“Celebrating twenty years of progress!” Such will be the theme for upcoming festivities for the anniversary of the Montréal Protocol, which will be taking place from September 12^th to 21^st at the invitation of the government of Canada. Some 700 participants are expected in the city that played host to the signing of this historic international agreement to protect the ozone layer. The commemoration will coincide with the 19^th Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, September 16^th, a seminar will be held to pay tribute to the architects of the Protocol and internationally renowned scientists, including several Nobel Prize laureates. The seminar is a joint initiative of the UN’s Ozone Secretariat and of the government of Canada. Also attending will be
Mr. Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), who has been invited by the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal (CORIM – the Montréal Council for International Relations) to head a conference supported by Montréal International.

On the occasion of these celebrations, several mentions will be awarded, notably the Visionary Prize, which acknowledges extraordinary contributions in the creation of the infrastructure of the Montréal Protocol or the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montréal Protocol. Also worthy of note will be an exhibition at the Environment Museum in the Biosphere on St. Helen’s Island, just south of the city.

All in all, this pivotal anniversary will further enhance Montréal’s enviable international reputation and renown in the environmental sector.