Current Conservative step up for polar area (3,3)
I believe the answer is:
ice cap
'polar area' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'current conservative step up' is the wordplay.
'current' becomes 'I' (symbol for electric current).
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'step' becomes 'pace' (pace is a kind of step).
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'pace' backwards is 'ecap'.
'i'+'c'+'ecap'='ICE-CAP'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ice cap that I've seen before include "Permanent covering of frozen water" , "one providing cover for Pole" , "polar area" , "Permanently frozen covering of land" , "Cold mass permanently covering the polar regions or mountain peaks" .)