The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays a pivotal role in global climate through its strong influence on the global overturning circulation, ocean heat and CO 2 uptake. However, when and how the Antarctic Circumpolar Current reached its modern-like characteristics remains disputed. Here we present neodymium isotope and sortable silt records from sediment cores in the Southwest Pacific and South Indian oceans spanning the past 31 million years. Our data indicate that a circumpolar current like that of today did not exist before the late Miocene cooling. These findings suggest that the emergence of a homogeneous and deep-reaching strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current was not linked solely to the opening and deepening of Southern Ocean Gateways triggering continental-scale Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion during the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (∼34 Ma). Instead, we find that besides tectonic pre-conditioning, the expansion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and sea ice since the middle Miocene Climate Transition (∼14 Ma) played a crucial role. This led to stronger density contrast and intensified Southern Westerly Winds across the Southern Ocean, establishing a vigorous deep-reaching circumpolar flow and an enhanced global overturning circulation, which amplified the late Cenozoic global cooling. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), driven by the interplay among Southern Westerly Winds (SWW), buoyancy forcing and bathymetry 1 , is the largest ocean current on Earth. It actively regulates the transport of heat, moisture, carbon and nutrients between the Southern Ocean and the low-latitude regions, thus substantially influencing atmospheric CO 2 and global climate 1. To assess the future response of the ACC to ongoing climate warming and its impacts on Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics, global circulation and climate 2 , it is critical to unravel< Leer menos