The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.
It was agreed on 26 August 1987, and entered into force on 26 January 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989.
The two ozone treaties have been ratified by 197 parties, which includes 196 states and the European Union, making them the first universally ratified treaties in United Nations history.
These truly universal treaties have also been remarkable in the expedience of the policy-making process at the global scale, where only 14 years lapsed between a basic scientific research discovery (1973) and the international agreement signed (1985 & 1987).
On October 15, 2016, Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted the Kigali amendment to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) worldwide. HFCs are widely used alternatives to ozone depleting substances such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), already controlled under the Protocol.
This amendment creates market certainty and opens international markets to new technology that is better for the environment, without compromising performance. It calls on all countries to gradually phase down their production and consumption of HFCs in the coming decades using the flexible, innovative, and effective approaches the Montreal Protocol has used for three decades. Global stakeholders endorsed adoption of the Kigali amendment, including most of the major U.S. companies working in related sectors.
As an implementing agency of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (MLF), UNDP supports developing countries eliminate ODS. UNDP is also an Implementing Agency for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which funds similar programmes in countries with economies in transition. UNDP services include technology transfer and technical assistance, formulation and implementation of country and sector strategies, capacity building, accessing funding from different sources, and facilitating public/private partnerships
