The 31st Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol) was convened in Rome, Italy, from November 4-8, 2019. More than 700 delegates from 169 countries and international organizations attended the event. Mr. Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) headed the Chinese Government delegation consisting of MEE and MFA to attend the meeting. Issues such as emissions of CTC, the terms of reference for the study on the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund and the unexpected emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) were discussed at the meeting and relevant decisions were made.

Head of the delegation, relevant official in charge with MEE attended the high-level meeting of MOP and gave a keynote speech, commending the achievements of Montreal Protocol during the three decades since its ratification. He said that China attaches high importance to the implementation of the Protocol and has been promoting coordinated phase-out of ODS by an integrated approach of technical, economic, and legal means. He also shared the positive actions made by China in addressing the unexpected emissions of CFC-11, a common challenge to the international community, calling on all parties to work together under the Protocol to address the issue properly. The speech of the head of the delegation was highly appraised by the delegates.

During the meeting, the head of the delegation met separately with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Vice Environmental Minister of Italy, heads of American and Australian delegations and exchanged views on issues of common concern.

The Montreal Protocol is recognized as the most successful multilateral environmental convention by the international community. Over the past three decades, the unremitting efforts of the Parties have effectively curbed ozone depletion and achieved huge environmental and health benefits. Conducting phase-out and substitution activities in more than 1,000 enterprises in over 10 sectors, China has phased out some 280,000 MT of ODS in total, accounting for over half of all ODS phased out by developing countries and making major contribution to the implementation of the Protocol.