Two years on, AQMx now supports every stage of the clean air journey

Two years ago, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition launched the Air Quality Management Exchange Platform, or AQMx, with a simple goal: make it easier for air quality practitioners everywhere to find and use the knowledge, tools and guidance they need to clean the air.

Since then, the platform has kept growing.

Just a few days ago, on International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, AQMx reached an important milestone. With Stages 4 and 5 now available, its Air Quality Management Guidance supports practitioners across the full five-stage clean air journey, from those just getting started to those working with more advanced air quality management systems.

The guidance has also expanded into a new area, forecasting, developed in response to requests from the AQMx user community.

It was a busy day for clean air. UNEP and the CCAC also launched Hidden assets: The economic and health case for climate and clean air action, strengthening the economic case for acting on air pollution and climate change together.

But making the case for action is only part of the challenge. Governments, cities and practitioners also need practical guidance on how to act. That is the gap AQMx was designed to help fill.

Two years of building practical support for cleaner air

When AQMx was launched in September 2024, it brought trusted air quality knowledge, data, tools and guidance together in one place, making it easier for practitioners to find and apply the resources they need.

Two years later, the Air Quality Management Guidance now spans all five stages of the clean air journey. This means practitioners can find guidance relevant to their circumstances whether they are building the foundations of an air quality management system or looking to strengthen more advanced approaches.

“What makes AQMx unique is the collective expertise behind it. Scientists and experienced air quality practitioners from different contexts have worked generously together to shape the journey, identify what practitioners need at each stage, and review and strengthen the guidance developed by experts—bringing together scientific knowledge and practical experience to help turn knowledge into action,” said Beatriz Cardenas, Chair of the AQMx Technical Advisory Group. “Guidance is only helpful if it is used, please take a look at them and tell us what you think. Use them".

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IMAGE — Beatriz Cardenas

At each stage, practitioners can find guidance across nine areas of air quality management, from monitoring and emissions inventories to health impact assessment, public engagement and policy design. In simple terms, the stages reflect where practitioners are in their air quality management journey, while the guidance areas cover what they need to work on along the way.

For example, a city may start by building the foundations of an air quality monitoring system, before expanding its network and developing more advanced approaches as its capacity grows.

Those areas have also evolved with the AQMx community. Forecasting has now been added as a new guidance area in response to requests from users, helping ensure the platform continues to reflect the practical needs of air quality managers.

The goal is to provide useful support to practitioners with different backgrounds and levels of capacity, and help them keep moving forward wherever they are starting from.

For practitioners, that value extends beyond access to technical resources.

"AQMx is not only a platform for technical knowledge and various tools on air quality management, but it also helps us to connect and communicate with experts who have the experience and success to manage and control air pollution” said Ittipol Pawarmart, AQMx Focus Group Member. “As a national agency, the Pollution Control Department in Thailand, we would like to thank the CCAC and AQMx teams for their excellent contribution and efforts."

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IMAGE — Ittipol Pawarmart

A new interactive questionnaire also makes it easier for practitioners to navigate the Air Quality Management Guidance. Users can assess which stage best reflects their current capacity and circumstances for each guidance area and identify the resources most relevant to them.

From stronger systems to action in specific sectors

Alongside the Air Quality Management Guidance, AQMx has also expanded to help practitioners tackle specific sources of pollution.

In 2025, the first AQMx Sectoral Guidance packages were launched. These are distinct from thenine air quality management areas. Instead, they provide practical roadmaps for implementing proven clean air and climate solutions in specific sectors.

The first packages focused on crop residue burning in agriculture, e-cooking in household energy, fuel quality and vehicle standards in transport and open waste burning in the waste sector. They set out what to do, how to do it, who needs to be involved and what capacities are required at national and local levels.

Together, the two forms of guidance address different parts of the implementation challenge: building the systems and capacity needed to manage air quality effectively, while providing practical pathways for action on major sources of pollution.

The importance of continually updating knowledge and sharing experience is also reflected in how AQMx is being used by practitioners.

“Air quality management requires constantly keeping up to date with technological innovations and developments in institutional approaches,” said Lantam Djeri-Wake, AQMx Focus Group Member. “Through the Air Quality Project in Togo (PQAT), the AQMx platform makes a significant contribution to this by sharing knowledge and facilitating networking and the exchange of experiences.”

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IMAGE — Lantam Djeri-Wake

What comes next

AQMx is still growing.

New sectoral guidance is scheduled for 2027, while the Air Quality Management Guidance will also serve as the basis for future online courses, providing training resources to help air quality managers progress from one stage to another.

That next phase builds on what we have learned since AQMx was launched two years ago: knowledge is most useful when practitioners can translate it into action.

The economic case for cleaner air is strong. AQMx helps turn that case into action, giving air quality managers the practical guidance and tools they need to make progress, wherever they are starting from.