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 XX/7: Environmentally sound management of banks of ozone depleting substances

  1. To invite Parties, international funding agencies, including the Multilateral Fund and the Global Environment Facility, and other interested agents to enable practical solutions for the purpose of gaining better knowledge on mitigating ozone-depleting substance emissions and destroying ozone-depleting substance banks, and on costs related to the collection, transportation, storage and destruction of ozone depleting substances, notably in Parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article5 of the Montreal Protocol;
  2. To request the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund to consider as a matter of urgency commencing pilot projects that may cover the collection, transport, storage and destruction of ozone-depleting substances. As an initial priority, the Executive Committee might consider projects with a focus on assembled stocks of ozone-depleting substances with high net global warming potential, in a representative sample of regionally diverse Parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article 5. It is understood that this initial priority would not preclude the initiation of other types of pilot projects, including on halons and carbon tetrachloride, should these have an important demonstration value. In addition to protecting the ozone layer, these projects will seek to generate practical data and experience on management and financing modalities, achieve climate benefits, and would explore opportunities to leverage co-financing;
  3. To encourage Parties to develop or consider further improvements in the implementation of national and/or regional legislative strategies and other measures that prevent the venting, leakage or emission of ozone-depleting substances by ensuring:
    1. Proper recovery of ozone-depleting substances from equipment containing ozone‑depleting substances, during servicing, use and at end of life, where possible in applications such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, fire protection, solvents and process agents;
    2. The use of best practices and performance standards to prevent ozone-depleting substance emissions at the end of the product life cycle, whether by recovery, recycling, reclamation, reuse as feedstock or destruction;
  4. To encourage all Parties to develop or consider improvements in national or regional strategies for the management of banks, including provisions to combat illegal trade by applying measures listed in decision XIX/12;
  5. To invite Parties to submit their strategies and subsequent updates to the Ozone Secretariat as soon as possible for the purpose of sharing information and experiences, including with interested stakeholders of other multilateral environmental agreements, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The strategies will be placed on the Ozone Secretariat website, which will be updated regularly;
  6. To note that any project implemented pursuant to the present decision when applicable should be done in conformity with national, regional, and/or international requirements, such as those mandated by the Basel Convention and Rotterdam Convention;
  7. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of destroying banks of ozone-depleting substances taking into consideration the relative economic costs and environmental benefits, to the ozone layer and the climate, of destruction versus recycling, reclaiming and reusing such substances. In particular, the report should cover the following elements:
    1. Consolidation of all available data on ozone-depleting substance banks and summary of this information identifying the sectors where recovery of ozone-depleting substances is technically and economically feasible;
    2. Respective levels of likely mitigation amounts, based on the categorization of reachable banks at low, medium, and high effort according to substances, sectors, regions, and where possible, subregions;
    3. Assessment of associated benefits and costs of respective classes of banks in terms of ozone depleting potential and global warming potential;
    4. Exploration of the potential “perverse incentives” or other adverse environmental effects that may be associated with certain mitigation strategies, in particular related to recovery and recycling for reuse;
    5. Consideration of the positive and negative impacts of recovery and destruction of ozone-depleting substances, including direct and indirect climate effects;
    6. Consideration of the technical, economic and environmental implications of incentive mechanisms to promote the destruction of surplus ozone-depleting substances;
  8. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to provide an interim report in time for dissemination one month before the twenty-ninth meeting of the Open‑ended Working Group and to provide the final report one month before the Twenty First Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol;
  9. To request the Ozone Secretariat, with the assistance of the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, to consult with experts from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Environment Facility, the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism, the World Bank and other relevant funding experts to develop a report on possible funding opportunities for the management and destruction of ozone-depleting substance banks, to present the report to the Parties for review and comments one month prior to the twenty‑ninth meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group and, if possible, to convene a single meeting among experts from the funding institutions;
  10. That the report referred to in paragraph 9 of the present decision would focus on describing possible institutional arrangements, potential financial structures, likely logistical steps and the necessary legal framework for each of the following, if relevant:
    1. Recovery;
    2. Collection;
    3. Storage;
    4. Transport;
    5. Destruction;
    6. Supporting activities;
  11. To request the Ozone Secretariat to convene a workshop among Parties that will include the participation of the Montreal Protocol assessment panels, the secretariat of the Multilateral Fund and the Fund’s implementing agencies, and seek the participation of the secretariats of other relevant multilateral environmental agreements, non‑governmental organizations and experts from funding institutions for the discussion of technical, financial and policy issues related to the management and destruction of ozone-depleting substance banks and their implications for climate change;
  12. That the above workshop will be held preceding the twenty-ninth meeting of the Open‑ended Working Group and that interpretation will be provided in the six official languages of the United Nations;
  13. Further to consider, at the twenty-ninth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group, possible actions regarding the management and destruction of banks of ozone-depleting substances in the light of the report to be provided by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel under paragraph 7 above, the working group report to be provided by the Secretariat under paragraph 9 above and the discussions emanating from the workshop under paragraph 11 above;
  14. To request the Ozone Secretariat to communicate the present decision to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol in time for possible consideration at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol on the understanding that the decision is without prejudice to any discussions that may be held on ozone-depleting substance banks within their forum;