Global Air qualityRecognising the growing global threat of air pollution, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted resolution 1/7: Strengthening the Role of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Promoting Air Quality in June 2014. UNEP was requested to make an overview of the actions taken by governments to promote better air quality. The results are shared in an online catalogue of 193 countries1. Based on the catalogue, fourteen sub-regional reports and this global summary were prepared describing ten key actions being undertaken by governments around the world to improve air quality.
These ten policy actions are organized into six categories; 1) indoor air pollution, 2) vehicle emissions, 3) public and non-motorized transport, 4) industrial emissions, 5) open burning of waste, and 6) national air quality standards and regulations. World maps indicating where all countries are in regard to the six categories are provided in the global snapshot at the end of this report.
This report takes stock of the progress being made globally in introducing ten key policy actions to improve indoor and outdoor air quality. Many of the 193 countries have implemented policies and activities and others are in process, while others still have to adopt or implement them.