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UNEP-wide project on Improving Air Quality

UNEP’s new Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2022 - 2025 sets an ambitious air quality target: “By 2025, 30 per cent of the world’s population live in areas where WHO Air Quality Interim Target 3 for outdoor PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) is attained”. Currently, only 19% of the global population lives in areas where concentrations of PM2.5 pollution is below 15 micrograms per cubic meter, and thus locations where an additional 11% of the world population reside must improve the air quality significantly in coming years, if the MTS target is to be met. The “UNEP-wide project on Improving Air Quality” is the primary UNEP response to the global air pollution crisis. It will mobilize UNEP’s and its key partners’ collective capacity to reduce air pollution from major sources in high impact sectors, and to strengthen air quality monitoring and management capacities of key stakeholders. The “Improving Air Quality” project contributes mainly to Outcome 3C of the Chemicals and Pollution Action Subprogramme, “Releases of pollutants to air, water, soil and the ocean are reduced”, and delivers on Direct Outcome 3.4 “Air pollution action, sustainable mobility and clean energy are supported”. It builds on UNEP’s and CCAC’s accomplishments, including lessons learned, gaps and challenges experienced during the implementation of project 533.1 “Providing support to countries and cities in improving air quality in order to improve environmental quality and the health and well-being of all”. This new project will advance air quality action with more impact, visibility, and resources, by integrating UNEP’s multi-region and multi-level efforts to improve air quality, by leveraging more partners, financial resources and buy-in among industry, finance and the UN system, and by providing a platform to mobilize efforts across the house, particularly under projects aimed at transforming key sectors such as transport, waste, energy and other high-impact sectors so that air quality benefits can be fully harnessed. The direct outcome of the project is that governments have measures, policies, or frameworks in place to reduce emissions of air pollutants from sources related to human activities for improved air quality and human health at national and subnational level through the support of UNEP. In order to achieve this outcome, the project will implement the following outputs: Output 1: Partnerships and finance mobilized with industry and private sector to shift investments across high impact sectors Output 2: Advisory and support services provided to countries and cities to detect and reduce the most harmful pollutants in high emitting impact sectors – widening, deepening, and connecting Output 3: Increased evidence base for informed decision making through continued air quality monitoring, targeted assessments on health and economic impacts, sector specific interventions and economics of air pollution Output 4: Global and regional movements strengthened to safeguard clean air for all with a focus on air quality and health nexus