Lithuania Elected for the First Time to Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol
Lithuania was elected to the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer during the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (COP-13) and the 36th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP-36), held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lithuania was nominated by the United Nations Eastern Europe Regional Group, representing 23 countries, and formally approved by the MOP-36 decision of the Montreal Protocol. This election marks Lithuania’s first appointment to the Executive Committee since it ratified the Protocol in 1994.
Ingrida Varžgalienė, an Advisor to the Pollution Prevention Policy Group of Lithuania’s Ministry of Environment, will represent Lithuania on the Committee.
The Executive Committee comprises seven representatives from Article 5(1) countries of the Protocol (designated as "developing" countries) and seven from non-Article 5(1) countries ("developed" countries). The 2025 Committee members include Argentina, Bahrain, China, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Lesotho, Togo, and developed nations such as Belgium, Canada, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Sweden, and the United States.
The Executive Committee is tasked with overseeing the Multilateral Fund's activities, setting its budget, establishing project eligibility criteria, making recommendations for fund-supported initiatives, reviewing reports on funded activities, evaluating expenditures, and approving beneficiary countries' projects.
Established in 1991, the Multilateral Fund provides financial and technical assistance to developing nations to help them meet the Montreal Protocol’s requirements. Since its inception, the Fund has supported over 8,600 projects—including industrial upgrades, technical assistance, training, and capacity building—amounting to more than €3.9 billion, with over $1.3 billion financed in various projects.
Montreal Protocol member countries, including Lithuania, contribute annually to the Multilateral Fund. Contribution levels are based on a three-year budget approved at Protocol meetings and calculated according to each country’s UN assessment scale.
Last updated: 19-11-2024
Related news:
Algirdas Pieniuta takes office as Vice-Minister of Environment
Environment Minister: Europe’s competitiveness and climate neutrality must be pursued together
Vilnius to host the 20th General Assembly of the Nordic Geodetic Commission
Minister of Environment to attend EU environment and climate ministers’ meeting in Dublin