The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is a global agreement to protect the Earth’s ozone layer by phasing out the chemicals that deplete it. This phase-out plan includes both the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances. The landmark agreement was signed in 1987 and entered into force in 1989.

The parties to the Protocol meet once a year to make decisions aimed at ensuring the successful implementation of the agreement. These include adjusting or amending the Protocol, which has been done six times since its creation. The most recent amendment, the Kigali Amendment, called for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in 2016. These HFCs were used as replacements for a batch of ozone-depleting substances eliminated by the original Montreal Protocol. Although they do not deplete the ozone layer, they are known to be powerful greenhouse gases and, thus, contributors to climate change.

The Montreal Protocol provided a set of practical, actionable tasks that were universally agreed on. The Protocol has successfully met its objectives thus far and continues to safeguard the ozone layer today. Thanks to the collaborative effort of nations around the world, the ozone layer is well on its way to recovery.

Decision III/12: Assessment Panels

The Third Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. III/12:

  1. to request the Assessment Panels and in particular the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to evaluate, without prejudice to Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol, the implications, in particular for developing countries, of the possibilities and difficulties of an earlier phase-out of the controlled substances, for example of the implications of a 1997 phase-out;
  2. taking into account the London Resolution on transitional substances (Annex VII to the report of the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol) to identify the specific areas where transitional substances are required to facilitate the earliest possible phase-out of controlled substances, taking into account environmental, technological and economic factors, where no other more environmentally suitable alternatives are available. The quantities likely to be needed for those areas of application currently served by transitional substances shall both be assessed;
  3. to request the assessment panels to identify the transitional substances with the lowest potential for ozone depletion required for those areas and suggest, if possible, a technically and economically feasible timetable, indicating associated costs, for the elimination of transitional substances;
  4. to request the assessment panels to submit their reports in time for their consideration by the Open-ended Working Group with a view to their submission for consideration by the Fourth Meeting of the Parties;
  5. to endorse Decision II/2, paragraph 2, of the Second Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention.
Annex VII: Resolution on ozone-depleting substances by the Governments and European Communities represented at the second Meeting of the Parties