Welcome to the Web site of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

The Multilateral Fund was established by a decision of the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (London, June 1990) and began its operation in 1991. The main objective of the Multilateral Fund is to assist developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita consumption and production of ozone depleting substances (ODS) is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures of the Protocol. Currently, 146 of the 196 Parties to the Montreal Protocol meet these criteria. They are referred to as Article 5 countries.

Contributions to the Multilateral Fund from the industrialized countries, or non-Article 5 countries, are assessed according to the UN scale of assessment.

The Fund has been replenished seven times: US $240 million (1991-1993), US $455 million (1994-1996), US $466 million (1997-1999), US $440 million (2000-2002), US $474 million (2003-2005), US $400.4 million (2006-2008) and US $400 million (2009-2011). The total budget for the 2009-2011 triennium is US $490 million: US $73.9 million of that budget is from the 2006-2008 triennium and US $16.1 million will be provided from interest accruing to the Multilateral Fund during the 2009-2011 triennium.

As at November 2009 the contributions made to the Multilateral Fund by some 49 industrialized countries (including Countries with Economies in Transition or CEIT countries) totalled over US$ 2.5 billion. The Fund is managed by an Executive Committee assisted by the Fund Secretariat. Projects and activities supported by the Fund are implemented by four international implementing agencies.

The Executive Committee has held 60 meetings since the establishment of the Multilateral Fund in 1990. During these meetings, the Executive Committee approved the expenditure of over US $2.3 billion to support over 6,000 projects and activities in 148  countries to be implemented through the four implementing agencies and by bilateral agencies.

The implementation of these projects will result in the phase-out of the consumption of more than 258,574 ODP tonnes and the production of about 195,013 ODP tonnes of ozone depleting substances. Of this total, about 238,619 ODP tonnes of consumption and 176,464 of production have already been phased out from projects approved as of December 2008.

To facilitate the phase-out by Article 5 countries, the Executive Committee has approved 141 country programmes, and has funded the establishment and the operating costs of ozone offices in 143 Article 5 countries.