3 April 2017: Mali has submitted its ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, making it the first official ratifying party, according to Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment, who urged other countries to follow suit.

The Kigali Amendment was adopted in October 2016, and will enter into force on 1 January 2019 if 20 or more parties to the Montreal Protocol ratify it by that time. On 28 February 2017, the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ parliament approved the ratification of the Amendment. Minister for Foreign Affairs John Silk said he would instruct the country’s Permanent Mission to the UN to prepare to deposit the instrument of ratification.

Through the Montreal Protocol, countries are phasing out the production and consumption of substances that deplete the ozone layer, thereby “preventing massive damage to human health and the environment from excessive ultraviolet radiation from the sun,” reports UN Environment; as a result, the ozone layer is “on track to recovery by mid-century.” Through the Protocol’s Kigali Amendment, parties will phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) but have high global-warming potentials.

Countries that ratify the Kigali Amendment commit to cut HFC production and consumption by more than 80% over the next 30 years.

Countries that ratify the Kigali Amendment commit to cut the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80% over the next 30 years. It is expected that this will avoid up to 0.5° Celsius warming by the end of the century, while continuing to protect the ozone layer, according to UN Environment.

The 39th Session of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 11-14 July 2017, preceded by a workshop on safety standards relevant to the use of low-global warming potential (GWP) alternatives to HFCs on 10 July. [UN Environment Press Release] [UNFCCC Press Release on Marshall Islands Ratification Approval] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Marshall Islands Approval]