Multilateral Fund for the Montreal Protocol

The Multilateral Fund helps eligible developing countries meet their obligations under the Montreal Protocol by financing and supporting changes in chemicals, equipment and production processes. Established in 1990, it provides financial and technical cooperation to countries operating under Article 5, principally by meeting the agreed additional costs of compliance.

Treaty basis and eligible support

Article 10 establishes the Protocol’s financial mechanism to assist Article 5 countries, which are eligible developing-country parties, in complying with its control measures.

• The Fund meets agreed incremental costs: the additional costs agreed as necessary to implement compliance measures, rather than every cost associated with industrial development.
• Assistance can include grants and concessional loans, as appropriate, alongside technical cooperation.
• Funding is principally provided through contributions from non-Article 5 parties, assessed using the United Nations scale of assessments.

How assistance enables compliance

The Fund turns treaty obligations into implementable national programmes by combining investment support with institutional strengthening. Its role is to help countries acquire the technology, skills and administrative capacity needed to meet agreed control schedules.

• It supports the conversion of manufacturing processes and equipment away from controlled substances towards suitable alternatives.
• It assists national planning and implementation, including country programmes and sectoral phase-out or phase-down plans.
• It supports training for refrigeration technicians and customs personnel, helping countries improve servicing practices and control trade in regulated substances.
• It strengthens national ozone units and supports information exchange, technical advice and project preparation.
• Support for the refrigeration servicing sector can help reduce refrigerant leakage and improve recovery and recycling practices.

Governance and relationship with treaty controls

An Executive Committee, with equal representation from Article 5 and non-Article 5 parties, manages the Fund’s operations. Its implementing agencies are UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO and the World Bank.

• The Fund supports compliance but does not itself set the Protocol’s control schedules or replace its reporting and non-compliance procedures.
• Its original focus was the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs and HCFCs.
• Under the Kigali Amendment, the financial mechanism also supports eligible developing countries in implementing the HFC phase-down.
• HFCs do not deplete ozone, but they are greenhouse gases; supporting their phase-down extends the mechanism’s contribution to climate mitigation.