AQMx Expands: New Guidance to Build Stronger Foundations and Scale Up Clean Air Action

In the journey to expand practical guidance for countries and cities working to improve air quality, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) released updated guidance on the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies . 

This new set of resources, part of the Air Quality Management Exchange Platform (AQMx), is designed to help governments and stakeholders build stronger foundations and scale up their clean air action — covering everything from monitoring and awareness to more advanced measures such as national standards, action plans, and deeper public engagement.

First launched in 2024, AQMx is a “one-stop shop” for air quality managers worldwide, developed in response to a UN Environment Assembly resolution calling for stronger regional cooperation to tackle air pollution. The platform provides access to trusted knowledge, tools, data, and step-by-step guidance, helping governments, practitioners, and stakeholders take meaningful action toward the WHO Air Quality Guidelines.

What makes AQMx different?

The platform brings together two powerful elements:

• Resource Exchange Library: Over 1,000 vetted, up-to-date resources on air quality management.
   
• Curated Guidance: A progressive set of recommended actions that air quality managers can take, supported by resources from the library. These cover eight key areas, including monitoring, emissions inventories, source attribution, health and environmental impacts assessments, decision support, communications, and policy design.

A Clean Air Journey: From Getting Started to Scaling Up

Air quality management is not “one size fits all.” Cities and countries enter the journey at different points, depending on their resources and experience. That’s why the AQMx guidance is structured as five progressive steps, each building on the last:

• Stage 1: Getting Started – laying the groundwork with basic monitoring, awareness-raising, and first impact assessments. 
   
• Stage 2: Building the Foundation – expanding monitoring networks, improving emissions inventories, and adopting National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
   
• Stage 3: Scaling Up – implementing action plans to cut emissions, ensuring data transparency, accountability and reporting.
   
• Stage 4: Advancing Action – using advanced modeling and decision-support tools, refining health, environmental, and economic impact assessments, and conducting scenario analysis to support policymaking
   
• Stage 5: Sustaining Clean Air – embedding air quality management into governance systems with strong enforcement, continuous improvement, research and innovation.

What’s new in 2025?

With this year’s additions, AQMx adds guidance for those ready to move from Getting Started to Scaling Up. This means supporting managers to:

• Expand monitoring by integrating gaseous pollutant monitors, low-cost sensors, and satellite data.
• Improve emissions inventories with refined emission factors and detailed emissions maps.
• Engage the public more deeply, using outreach campaigns, citizen science, and open data tools.
• Strengthen the legal framework through National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and comprehensive air quality action plans.

Looking Ahead

This new guidance, shaped by the AQMx Technical Advisory Group (TAG) — a network of leading international experts — gives countries and cities the tools to turn ambition into concrete action.

The journey doesn’t end here. The final steps, “Advancing Action” and “Sustaining Clean Air,” will be launched in 2026, completing the roadmap to long-term, integrated air quality management.

With AQMx, clean air is no longer an abstract goal. It’s a practical, step-by-step journey — one that every city, every country, and every community can take, together.