AQMx

Launching the AQMx Sectoral Guidance: Clear Pathways to Cleaner Air

by Martina Otto, Head of Secretariat, Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) - 2 December, 2025

Air pollution is cutting lives short around the world, with almost 8 million premature deaths every year, and harming the health and opportunities of billions, particularly the most vulnerable. Countries everywhere are working hard to improve air quality, yet many still face constraints, including limited monitoring networks and gaps in technical capacity. These challenges are genuine, but they should not hold back progress. We know enough about major pollution sources and measures that can reduce them fastest, to start acting today.

This is the spirit that guided the creation of the CCAC’s Air Quality Management Exchange Platform, or AQMx. The platform is designed to support air quality managers and decision makers with tools and practical guidance to move forward, even when data is incomplete. Clean air is a human right, and many of the solutions to protect it are well understood, practical, and for a good number of them also low-cost. And these solutions can deliver immediate benefits for public health, climate, equity, and economic development.

AQMx responds to a resolution of the UN Environment Assembly that called for stronger global cooperation, sharing of experience and an updated global platform. It consolidates the best available knowledge, data, tools, and models from leading partners into a single, easy to use platform. As we developed it, we heard from users who told us they needed help translating science into implementation.  

Today, we are adding the first AQMx Sectoral Guidance packages. These are practical roadmaps that spell out actionable steps for proven clean air and climate solutions. Each package outlines what to do, how to do it, who needs to be involved, and what capacities are required at national and local levels. The intent is to help governments avoid duplication, overcome common barriers, and identify the quickest pathways to healthier air. The intent was not to give a comprehensive picture of what could be done in each sector, but to zoom in on ‘must do/can do’ options and enable dialogue between air quality managers and relevant line ministries.

Agriculture: Crop Residue Burning

Household Energy: E-Cooking

Transport: Fuel Quality

Waste: Open Waste Burning

The initial four priority sectors we looked at are rich in black carbon and have been highlighted in CCAC Integrated Assessments because action here delivers a double gain for both climate and clean air. Cutting black carbon reduces dangerous PM2.5 pollution while also lowering one of the most powerful short-lived climate pollutants. Agriculture, household energy, road transport, and waste therefore offer some of the fastest and most cost-effective improvements.

The first of these sectors, agriculture, shows how progress is possible with the right blend of support and policy. Stopping crop residue burning is a key way to cut PM2.5 and black carbon from the agricultural sector, yet policies only work when farmers have viable alternatives. The guidance emphasizes regionally tailored approaches that pair enforcement with information campaigns, incentives, and expanded access to no burn residue management technologies. Creating stable markets for agricultural residues can turn a waste challenge into an economic opportunity, improving both productivity and profitability for farmers. Equity matters. Smallholders, women farmers, and indigenous communities must be supported so the transition is fair and accessible.

A similar combination of practicality and fairness is essential in the household energy sector. Transitioning from polluting fuels to electric cooking is one of the most immediate ways to improve air quality and sharply reduce black carbon and methane in the household energy sector. Key interventions include promoting high quality, affordable appliances with strong standards, expanding access through public budgets and blended finance, empowering women’s groups, and demonstrating early success through visible pilots. These steps deliver cleaner air, healthier lives, and important gender and development gains. And of course, these actions must go hand in hand with energy planning.

In the transport sector, the guidance points to foundational measures that unlock a wide range of benefits. Clean mobility begins with clean fuels, and no emission standard can work without addressing fuel quality. Reducing sulfur levels is an essential gateway to high performing vehicle standards, which can cut particulate emissions by up to 90% and nitrogen oxides by 90 to 95%. Clean fuels also reduce black carbon, improve fleet efficiency, and strengthen energy security. As the guidance shows, small, targeted surcharge on fuels can fund nationwide quality testing, while regional alignment helps reduce costs, supports fairer and more harmonized trade, and prevents high sulfur dumping.

The waste sector presents another area where the mix of regulation and support for practical alternatives can deliver cleaner air. Open waste burning remains one a toxic and pervasive source of pollution, and often occurs because people lack viable options. Eliminating it requires accessible and affordable waste collection, recycling systems, community engagement, and the integration of informal waste workers. Low-cost actions can begin immediately, such as school and hospital waste protocols, hotspot mapping, behaviour change campaigns, and coordinated community cleanups.

Across all sectors, the message is consistent. Solutions exist, and they can be implemented now.  

AQMx and its sectoral guidance packages are designed to turn possibility into result and to get from momentum to a global movement. By empowering practitioners with clear steps, proven examples, and the tools they need, we are helping close a persistent capacity gap and aim to accelerate real world implementation.

Air pollution is a global crisis, and a solvable one. This new guidance is only the beginning. We will continue to develop further sectoral guidance and expand AQMx to support air quality managers everywhere. Stay tuned as we continue to add to this platform, to help countries turn clean air commitments into real improvements for people and the planet. 

 

To learn more about AQMx Sectoral Guidance, attend the following webinars: