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 XVII/19: Consideration of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment report as it relates to actions to address ozone depletion

The Seventeenth Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. XVII/19:

Noting with appreciation the special report of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System: Issues Related to Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons”, and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel’s supplementary report that sets out clearly the ozone depletion implications of the issues raised in the special report,

Noting the supplementary report’s conclusion that mitigation strategies relating to banks of ozone-depleting substances will have limited impact on ozone-layer recovery,

Acknowledging the need for Parties to have a full understanding of the policy implications for ozone layer protection of forecast emissions from banks of ozone-depleting substances in both global and regional terms,

Recalling the report of the sixth meeting of Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention, which reported that activities under the “mitigation scenario” presented in the special report provided an opportunity to protect the ozone layer further and to reduce greenhouse gases significantly,

Acknowledging that the upcoming 2006 Scientific Assessment Report will cover in more detail some issues raised in the special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, such as the discrepancy between atmospheric concentrations of ozone-depleting substances and emissions reported,

  1. To request the Ozone Secretariat to organize an experts workshop in the margins of the twenty-sixth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group in 2006, to consider issues as described in paragraph 3 of the present decision, arising from the special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel’s supplementary report;
  2. To request Parties to provide nominations for experts to participate in the workshop to the Ozone Secretariat by 30 March 2006, aiming for a balanced representation from regional groups;
  3. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to present a summary of the reports at the workshop and that experts then produce a list of practical measures relating to ozone depletion that arise from the reports, indicating their associated ozone-depleting substances cost effectiveness and taking into account the full costs of such measures. The list should also contain information on other environmental benefits, including those relating to climate change, that would result from these measures;
  4. To request the Ozone Secretariat to produce a report of the workshop to the Parties by 1 September 2006 and report to the Eighteenth Meeting of the Parties;
  5. To request the Ozone Secretariat to inform the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of the workshop and invite its representatives to attend as observers and report back to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
  6. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to coordinate with the World Meteorological Organization and the Scientific Assessment Panel to clarify the source of the discrepancy between emissions determined from bottom-up methods and from atmospheric measurement, with a view to:
    1. Identifying the use patterns for the total production forecast for the period 2002-2015 in both Parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol and Parties not so operating;
    2. Making improved estimates of future emissions from banks, including those in the refrigeration, foams and other sectors, given the accuracy of calculations of the size of banks and the emissions derived from them, as well as servicing practices, and issues relating to recovery and recycling and end-of-life;
  7. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to report to the Parties at their Eighteenth Meeting on the activities referred to in paragraph 6.