The Fund is dedicated to reversing the deterioration of the Earth's ozone layer. It was established in 1991 to assist developing countries meet their Montreal Protocol commitments. It is managed by an Executive Committee with equal membership from developed and developing countries. The Fund Secretariat in Montreal assists the Committee in this task. Since 1991, the Fund has approved activities including industrial conversion, technical assistance, training and capacity building worth over US $3.0 billion.

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 Fund is to assist developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual level of consumption of the ozone depleting substances (ODS) chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons is less than 0.3 kilograms per capita to comply with the control measures of the Protocol. Currently, 148 of the 197 Parties to the Montreal Protocol meet these criteria. They are referred to as Article 5 countries.

The Multilateral Fund is managed by an Executive Committee with equal membership from developed and developing countries. The Fund Secretariat located in Montreal, assists the Executive Committee in this task. Projects and activities supported by the Fund are implemented by four international implementing agencies.

Contributions to the Multilateral Fund from developed countries, or non-Article 5 countries, are assessed according to the UN scale of assessment. As at 8 November 2014 the contributions made to the Multilateral Fund by some 45 countries (including Countries with Economies in Transition or CEIT countries) totalled over US$ 3.26 billion.

The Fund has been replenished nine 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), US $400 million (2009-2011), US $400 million (2012-2014) and US $437 million (2015-2017). The total budget for the 2015-2017 triennium is US $507,500 million: $64 million of that budget will be provided from anticipated contributions due to the Multilateral Fund and other sources for the 2012‑2014 triennium, and that $6 million will be provided from interest accruing to the Fund during the 2015–2017 triennium.

Since the inception of the Fund, the Executive Committee has held 73 meetings. During these meetings, the Executive Committee approved the expenditure of approximately US $3.14 billion for the implementation of projects including industrial conversion, technical assistance, training and capacity building that will result in the phase-out of 463,814 ODP tonnes of controlled substances once all these projects have been implemented. As of the end of December 2013, approximately 453,771 ODP tonnes had already been phased out.

To facilitate the phase-out by Article 5 countries, the Executive Committee has approved 144 country programmes, 140 HCFC phase-out management plans and has funded the establishment and the operating costs of ozone offices in 145 Article 5 countries.

Developing countries (Article 5 Parties) have to report data (and other information) on the progress of implementation of their country programmes or their updates to the Fund Secretariat. Forms for reporting the progress of implementation of country programmes can be downloaded from the Countries section of this website.

Developing countries (Article 5)

- Bahrain
- Brazil
- Comoros (the)
- Egypt
- Grenada (Vice Chair)
- India
- United Republic of Tanzania

Developed countries (non-Article 5)

- Australia
- Belgium
- Italy
- Japan
- Russian Federation (the) 
- Sweden
- United States of America (Chair)

Chair and Vice-Chair

Mr. John Thompson (United States of America) serves as Chair of the Executive Committee for one year beginning 1 January 2015 and Mr. Leslie Smith (Grenada) serves as Vice Chair.

 

The Executive Committee decided to hold its 74th meeting in Montreal from 18 to 22 May 2015, and the 75th meeting back to back with the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Parties at a date and venue to be decided.

28 November 2014. Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, announced the appointment of Mr. Andrew Ray Reed, as Deputy Chief Officer of the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. Mr. Reed has worked for the Fund Secretariat since 1992. He has extensive experience in negotiating agreements and reviewing projects in both the consumption and production sectors that provide assistance to developing countries in meeting their obligations to phase out ozone depleting substances. Mr. Reed put in place a robust system of monitoring and reporting for the US $3 billion financial mechanism that identified and led to the resolution of financial and project implementation issues. He created the Fund’s business planning system, which ensures an equitable distribution of funding to developing countries, provides guidance to the Fund’s implementing agencies in prioritizing their annual work programmes, and establishes funding allocations for the consideration of the Executive Committee. He developed methods for assessing the performance of the Fund’s agencies and their administrative costs. He has also advised the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on the triennial replenishment of resources for the Fund, issues related to developing countries under the non-compliance procedures, and the periodic evaluations of the financial mechanism. Having joined the Secretariat in its initial years, Mr. Reed contributed to building the foundation of the Fund, addressing the guiding principles for funding projects on the basis of the concept of incremental costs. Mr. Reed has a strong economic background, including degrees from Louisiana State University and the New School for Social Research in New York. His previous experience includes work for a ministry of a national government (Department of Transportation), a university environmental centre (Center for Wetlands Research), and a not-for-profit research institute (Gulf South Research Institute). Mr. Reed is a citizen of the United States of America from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

Montreal, 1 April 2014 – Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ibrahim Thiaw paid a courtesy visit to the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund on 1 April 2014. Mr. Thiaw met with the Secretariat staff in their offices in Montreal. He took the opportunity to brief staff on the background to the first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) taking place in June 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the role of UNEA as the new governing body of UNEP.  Mr. Thiaw highlighted the remarkable impact of the Montreal Protocol and its Multilateral Fund on human health and well-being, and stressed the importance of conveying that message to the wider community.
Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw joined UNEP in 2007 and was appointed as the Deputy Executive Director for UNEP  in August 2013.