Professor Carpenter Addresses Montreal Protocol Meeting on the Scientific Evidence of Ozone-Depleting Substances and Climate Gases

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Posted on Tuesday 2 December 2025

Lucy Carpenter, in her role as a Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol, presented key items for discussion at the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP37) at the UN complex in Nairobi, Kenya.

A photo of the Plenary Conference Room at the 37th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol — MOP37 Plenary Conference Room. Photo by IISD/ENB | Danny Skilton.

Forty years ago, countries came together and took the first step in protecting the ozone layer through the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The effectiveness of this multilateral cooperation to control emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and their replacements is clear; the Earth’s protective stratospheric ozone layer is healing.

Every year, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol meet to make decisions to ensure the agreement's successful implementation, including adjusting or amending the Protocol, at the Meeting of the Parties (MOP). The Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol provides the scientific information and assessments necessary to guide the Protocol's decisions, and the Co-Chairs are required to present updated information and assessments on the ozone layer and climate at the MOPs.

The Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP37) was held at the UN complex in Nairobi, Kenya during 3-7 November, 2025. A total of 619 participants attended the meeting, representing governments, academia, industry, and civil society. Professor Lucy Carpenter, in her role as one of the Co-Chairs of the Scientific Assessment Panel, presented key items for discussion including one of the more contentious issues on the agenda - HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas covered under the Protocol’s Kigali Amendment, which has substantial discrepancies between atmospheric monitoring and reporting of emissions. She also presented an update on the quadrennial Scientific Assessment report currently in progress and took part in a panel event celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Vienna Convention. The closing plenary of the meeting went late into the night and well beyond its scheduled close, but nevertheless the MOP37 concluded with many successful negotiations on a number of issues.

Notes to editors:

Further information on the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP37).