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

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.”