In 2025, the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol marked a milestone year for project approvals and policy decisions. Across the 96th and 97th meetings of the Executive Committee, 286 projects were approved for 101 countries and one global project, with funding totaling US $138,203,912. Of these, 117 projects addressed HCFCs (US $57,786,027), 109 supported HFC phase‑down under the Kigali Amendment (US $52,598,262) and 60 covered other projects (US $27,819,623). These decisions reinforced the Fund’s role in sustaining Montreal Protocol obligations and helping Article 5 countries go beyond compliance to maximize climate and energy gains from their transitions.
Advancing ambitious HFC phase-down pathways
In 2025, several Article 5 countries adopted forward-looking Kigali HFC Implementation Plans (KIPs), approved by the Executive Committee. Stage I of Egypt’s KIP puts the country on track to reduce HFC consumption by 15 per cent by 2029 and 22 per cent by 2030, ahead of Montreal Protocol schedules, combining clear bans on specific high global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants. Lebanon’s KIP sets similarly ambitious targets – 15 per cent below baseline by 2029 and 40 per cent by 2032 – despite prolonged economic and political challenges and pairs an operational licensing and quota system with targeted conversions in residential air conditioning and commercial refrigeration.
Small island economies also moved ahead. Fiji’s stage I KIP established a structured path to reduce HFC consumption by 10 per cent by 2029 as cooling demand rises in the tourism and fisheries sectors. In South Africa, stage I of the KIP strengthened regulatory and institutional frameworks to manage rising HFC consumption, including the introduction of an HFC import quota system and measures to support the conversion of small commercial refrigeration manufacturers to low-GWP technologies. Alongside these KIPs, the Executive Committee also advanced HCFC phase-out, including approval of stage III of Argentina’s HCFC Phase-out Management Plan to complete HCFC phase-out by 2030 while modernizing key refrigeration sectors.
Improvements in life-cycle refrigerant management
In 2025, efforts to improve refrigeration and air-conditioning servicing practices were complemented by growing attention to the full life cycle of refrigerants. Building on work in many Article 5 countries to strengthen technician skills, licensing and enforcement, the Executive Committee advanced the policy groundwork for life-cycle refrigerant management (LRM). Discussions at its 97th meeting underlined the need for sustainable financing and stronger regulatory frameworks to address banks of ozone-depleting substances and HFCs. To date, the Multilateral Fund has supported 128 Article 5 countries in the preparation of inventories and action plans for collection, transport and disposal of controlled substances, while recognizing ongoing challenges in data, regulation and viable models for recovery and destruction. Insights from this work will inform future cost guidelines and funding modalities for a dedicated LRM funding window, expected to be considered at the 100th meeting, preparing countries for implementation and for the next generation of LRM policy decisions.
Innovative finance and digital tools for the next phase
In 2025, the Fund also strengthened the support framework for implementation through new financial mechanisms and analytical tools. The US $40 million Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) entered its operational phase under the Fund’s energy-efficiency framework. The EERF will provide low or zero-interest loans via implementing agencies and national financial institutions to end users in priority refrigeration and air-conditioning sectors, supporting the replacement of old equipment with energy-efficient, low-GWP technologies. Governance will be anchored in national advisory boards and aligned with Kigali HFC Implementation Plans. In 2025, the Executive Committee approved preparation funding for pilot projects in Grenada, Thailand and Türkiye, and for a global project covering Colombia, Ghana and Jordan, with the first two EERF projects to be selected in 2026, helping to establish replicable operational models for scaling energy-efficient, low-GWP cooling solutions.
A further milestone was the introduction of Kigali Sim, an open-source modelling tool developed by the University of California, Berkeley in partnership with the Multilateral Fund. Kigali Sim combines advanced analytical and computing capacity with an artificial intelligence assistant to help countries simulate the impact of different policy measures on HFC consumption and emissions in support of Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment compliance.
Strengthening evaluation for accountability and learning
To underpin these operational advances, the Executive Committee approved a new evaluation policy at its 96th meeting, reinforcing the Fund’s accountability and learning framework. The policy clarifies the separation between monitoring and evaluation, with monitoring carried out by the Secretariat as part of project review and evaluation led by a dedicated Senior Evaluation Officer with a more independent, strategic focus. It confirms three core purposes for evaluation in the Fund – accountability, evidence-based decision-making and organizational learning – and establishes principles of independence, utility, credibility and transparency. Future discussions will consider systems to follow up on evaluation recommendations, develop stakeholder guidance and enhance quality assurance, including through digital tools, so that evaluation findings more directly inform future funding decisions and project design.
Looking ahead
Over the past year, the Multilateral Fund continued to demonstrate how targeted finance, technical support and policy innovation can turn global agreements into concrete progress. As Parties move deeper into HFC phase-down, the Fund’s evolving toolkit offers a solid platform for the decisions and milestones that will shape the years ahead, including the landmark 100th meeting of the Executive Committee. These achievements reflect the sustained engagement of Article 5 countries, donor countries, implementing and bilateral agencies, and the Executive Committee, whose partnership remains central to protecting the ozone layer, mitigating climate change and expanding access to sustainable cooling.
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