Improving the capacity of countries to report on air quality in cities

In 2019, WHO estimated that 6.7 million premature deaths could be attributed to ambient and household air pollution from particulate matter (particles with a diameter less than 2.5 μm, PM2.5. Of the 4.2 million deaths attributed specifically to ambient air pollution exposures.

In 2021, WHO updated its air quality guidelines with more stringent values for selected pollutants, particularly NO2 and PM2.5 – the most widely accepted indicators for health impacts.

WHO data on air quality from some 6700 cities worldwide, updated in 2022, reveals that air pollution in 83% of high-income cities and 99% of low-income cities that are monitoring air quality exceeds WHO recommended levels.

This guidance and tools presented in this report represent an effort to address this yawning gap between reality and aspirations for better air quality – in a stepwise approach that advances progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 – “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”

It provides a user's guide to a new, common UN repository of tools for assessing and addressing air pollution and health. The online repository, developed by UN agencies engaged in air quality and health action, and maintained by WHO, offers a stepwise approach to support monitoring and reporting on SDG indicator 11.6.2, annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in urban areas.

The aim is to offer a way forward for cities and national ministries to develop frameworks for monitoring air quality in cities as one of the indicators of progress on SDG target 11.6: “By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.”

This one-stop shop includes tools for national governments, cities, and other subnational entities at all levels of development in air quality monitoring - including cities that currently have no programmes in place.