27th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer. The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on 16 September 1987 and entered into force on 1 January 1989.
The Parties to the Montreal Protocol have amended the Protocol to enable, among other things, the control of new chemicals and the creation of a financial mechanism to enable developing countries to comply. Specifically, the Second, Fourth, Ninth and Eleventh Meetings of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 4 of Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, four Amendments to the Protocol – the London Amendment (1990), the Copenhagen adjustments to the Protocol (1992), the Montreal Amendment (1997) and the Beijing Amendment (1999). Unlike ,amendments to the Protocol amendments must be ratified by countries before their requirements are applicable to those countries. The London, Copenhagen, Montreal, Copenhagen Montreal and Beijing Amendments entered into force on 10 August 1992, 14 June 1994 10 November 1999 and 25 February 2002 respectively, only for those Parties which ratified the particular amendments.

In addition to adjustments and amendments to the Montreal Protocol, the Parties to the Protocol meet annually and take a variety of decisions aimed at enabling effective implementation of this important legal instrument. Through the 22nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, the Parties have taken over 720 decisions.

This year is the 27th meeting of the parties.