This policy brief outlines nine principles on equity, flexibility, and accountability based on lessons from the Montreal Protocol and adapts these lessons to the context of antimicrobial resistance.
Key Takeaways
- The Montreal Protocol is a successful model for responding to global threats requiring collective action, like antimicrobial resistance.
- Nine governance principles that contributed to the success of the Montreal Protocol are identified across the themes of equity, flexibility, and accountability.
- Managing AMR, much like ozone depletion, requires sustainable funding, intersectoral coordination, and global advocacy to prevent the loss of lives and livelihoods.
Introduction
The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1989 to tackle ozone depletion. Despite the initial hurdles to implementing the Protocol, the ozone layer is now on the path to recovery, making the protocol a success story in global cooperation. Today, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health threat, causing over 1.27 million deaths each year. This crisis, worsened by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, needs global cooperation to address the growing health concerns for humans, animals, and the environment.
There have been many calls for an international legal instrument to address the rising threat of AMR. However, the latest efforts to adopt a Pandemic Treaty lack AMR-centred policies. While the Montreal Protocol served as an environmental governance model, it can also guide the development of an international agreement to tackle AMR. This policy brief outlines nine principles on equity, flexibility, and accountability based on lessons from the Montreal Protocol and adapts these lessons to the context of antimicrobial resistance.
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