Curtain Raiser ｜

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The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was recently called “an inspirational example of how humanity is capable of cooperating to address a global challenge and a key instrument for tackling today’s climate crisis” by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The thirty-first Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP 31) is expected to build on this reputation, and discuss pressing issues, including unexpected emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) and ongoing reported emissions of carbon tetrachloride (CTC).

MOP 31 will also consider:

• Terms of reference for the study on the 2021-2023 replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol;
• potential areas of focus for the 2022 quadrennial assessment reports of the Scientific Assessment Panel (SAP), the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP);
• 2019 TEAP report;
• Article 5 parties access to energy-efficient technologies in the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump sectors;
• Safety standards;
• Compliance and data-reporting issues;
• Initial assessment by the SAP and the TEAP of five volatile fluoroorganic and related compounds found in the Arctic; and
• Nominations for critical-use exemptions, stocks of methyl bromide, and process agents.

MOP 31 will convene from 4-8 November 2019 at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN in Rome, Italy. The preparatory segment will meet from 4-6 November, followed by the high-level segment from 7-8 November.

Adopted in 1987, the Montreal Protocol is the sole protocol to the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Protocol seeks to control and phase out ozone-depleting substances (ODS) such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, CTC, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, hydrobromofluorocarbons, and HCFCs. The 2016 Kigali Amendment, the most recent amendment to the Protocol, seeks to phase down HFCs, substitutes for many ozone depleting substances that have been found to have a high global warming potential.

The MOP serves as the decision making body of the Protocol and meets annually to consider and decide on issues put forward by the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties.