The Scottish Government

The Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol (1987) is a landmark in environmental policy-making because it was the first international treaty designed on the basis of scientific evidence, with the aim of preventing a global problem from becoming worse. The Protocol controls both the production and consumption of the various ozone depleting substances. Shortly after the Protocol was adopted, scientists established conclusively that CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances had contributed to the ozone hole. In 1990, at the 2nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in London, the 80 countries present agreed that the production and consumption of CFCs and halons should be phased out by the year 2000 in developed countries. Developing countries negotiated an additional 10 years to comply with these controls and are required to phase out CFCs and halons by 2010. The London Amendment also established a Multilateral Fund to provide financial assistance to developing countries to meet the cost of the phase-out.



The 1992 Meeting of the Parties in Copenhagen brought forward the phase-out dates of chemicals already controlled by the Protocol and introduced controls for HCFCs. The Parties also agreed a freeze on the production and consumption of methyl bromide at 1991 levels from 1995, with an exemption for the amounts used for quarantine and pre-shipment fumigations. A definition of essential uses was agreed and resolutions were adopted to encourage recovery, recycling, leakage control and the destruction of ozone depleting substances.



At the 1995 Meeting of the Parties in Vienna, a phase-out date of 2010 for the production and consumption of methyl bromide was introduced and tighter controls were agreed for HCFCs.



At the 9th Meeting of the Parties in 1997 which was the tenth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, the consumption and production of levels for methyl bromide were revised, bringing forward the phase-out date for developed countries to 2005 and introducing a phases-out date of 2015 for developing countries. Parties were also required to introduce a licensing system for the import and export of controlled substances.



The last meeting of the Parties that agreed an amendment to the Protocol was the 11th Meeting in Beijing in 1999, when an agreement was reached to phase out bromochloromethane.



For a table of the international steps already taken to protect the ozone layer click here.

Main substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol, their uses and some alternatives

* HCFCs are regarded as transitional replacements only. They have some kind of ozone depleting potential, although less than CFCs. They were brought under the control of the Montreal Protocol in November 1992.



** HFCs contain no chloride and are not ozone depleting substances, however they do contribute to climate change.

Assessment and Review

The Parties to the Montreal Protocol have met annually since 1992 and undertake major reviews of the control measures at least every four years, on the basis of available scientific, environmental, technical and economic information. Advisory panels bring together experts from science, industry, governments and non-governmental organisations. The panels comprise:



· Two Scientific Assessment Panels, responsible for reviewing scientific knowledge on ozone depletion and its impacts



·The Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP), which analyses the technical options for and the economic costs of controlling the use of ozone depleting substances. The TEAP functions largely through subsidiary technical options committees, which cover separate areas: aerosols, economic options, foams, halons, methyl bromide, refrigeration and solvents.



In 1985, the UK Government's Department of the Environment (now the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the Meteorological Office asked several experts to form the UK Stratospheric Ozone Review Group (SORG). The Group was asked to prepare a report that addressed the main scientific issues concerning ozone depletion in a form that would help the Government to decide on the action needed to address the problem. Most recently, the SORG met in 2002 to discuss methyl bromide and the impact on ozone depletion.

© Crown, The Ozone Layer, Defra (2003)