Highlights and images for 17 July 2026

On the last day of many multilateral environmental meetings, the schedule constantly shifts as the closing plenary times get progressively later and later to allow delegates more time to complete their work.  

At the 48th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (OEWG 48), delegates had to complete negotiations on a list of requests for the Protocol’s Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) to take into consideration in preparing its supplementary report to inform the next triennial replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (MLF).  

Parties will have to reach agreement on the amount of this replenishment at the next Meeting of the Parties (MOP 38) later this year, to ensure that Article 5 Parties (developing countries) have the necessary funds to implement the phase-out and phase-down of substances controlled by the Protocol.  

The contact group on the MLF replenishment met twice during the day, with discussions running well beyond the scheduled end time as delegates debated what to include in the guidance for the TEAP. They started with the most pressing issues of costing scenarios and methodology, specifically what data to use to determine funding levels.

Delegates also weighed different approaches to reflect the funding needs of low- and very-low consumption countries in the next stage of Kigali Implementation Plans, before agreeing to retain a request for a high-end funding scenario.  

A dispute also emerged over instructions on energy efficiency. Ultimately, delegates were able to forward the agreed additional requests for the Replenishment Task Force (RTF) to plenary, where they were quickly approved as an annex to the meeting report. 

Earlier, in a brief morning plenary, OEWG 48 heard reports from the other contact and informal groups. 

Contact group meetings and informal consultations also continued throughout the day. In informal consultations on resolving the participation of Central Asian states in the Eastern European Group, Parties could not reach consensus. Later, the plenary agreed to put this item on the agenda for MOP 38. 

In the contact group on ensuring the viability of Montreal Protocol operations, delegates considered potential changes to the timing and length of meetings and compiled a list of questions for the Secretariat to address ahead of MOP 38. 

The closing plenary finally convened at 6:30 pm to hear all outstanding reports from contact groups and informal consultations and to adopt the report of the meeting. After a brief suspension, while waiting for the replenishment contact group to finish its work, OEWG Co-Chair Annie Gabriel (Australia) gaveled the meeting to a close at 8:39 pm, and the relief among delegates to have found a resolution after protracted negotiations was palpable.