Delegates at the Thirty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol agreed on a 2027–2029 Multilateral Fund replenishment package of $695 million in Kigali, supporting developing nations in phasing out ozone-depleting substances and hydrofluorocarbons.
The negotiations extended into the early hours of Saturday morning, concluding a week-long summit hosted by the Government of Rwanda from November 2 to 7, 2026. The financial package consists of $360 million in new contributions alongside $335 million in carryover funding, designed to maintain the momentum of the ozone recovery framework.
This summit also marked the tenth anniversary of the landmark Kigali Amendment, which brought parties back to the exact venue where the global phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons was originally adopted. Executive Secretary of the Montreal Protocol Ozone Secretariat Meg Seki noted during her opening address that phasing out 99.5 per cent of ozone-depleting substances to date has secured vital ozone layer recovery.
“Through the Kigali Amendment and energy efficiency on cooling, we can avoid up to one degree Centigrade of global warming by the end of this century,” Meg Seki told delegates.
After negotiating late into the night and into the early hours of the morning, parties at #MOP38 reached agreement on a package of key decisions, including a US$695 million replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for 2027-2029. This funding mechanism under the Montreal Protocol… pic.twitter.com/vupUhDk5L1
Parties Address HFC-23 Emission Reporting Discrepancies
Beyond the core funding agreement, delegates tackled persistent gaps regarding high levels of HFC-23 emissions. Updates presented by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and the Scientific Assessment Panel highlighted a clear discrepancy between reported and observed atmospheric levels of this potent greenhouse gas.
Parties ultimately adopted a decision encouraging the voluntary sharing of observationally derived emissions data. They also requested further scientific analysis from the Scientific Assessment Panel to reconcile bottom-up and top-down reporting inconsistencies.
New Destruction Technology and Reduced Meeting Durations Approved
To enhance institutional efficiency, the parties approved the steam plasma arc as a recognized destruction technology for concentrated sources of chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. Delegates also agreed to a trial reduction in 2027 of the Open-ended Working Group meeting duration from five days down to four days.
| Replenishment Component | Allocation (USD) |
|---|---|
| New Contributions | $360 million |
| Carryover Funding | $335 million |
| Total MLF Package (2027–2029) | $695 million |
Further organizational changes included restructuring the Medical and Chemicals Technical Options Committee and limiting reporting requirements for specific committees to every two years. In total, 22 decisions were adopted during the Kigali meeting, including the approval of the annual budget for Ozone Secretariat operations for 2027.
