01 Understand the applicable national and international legal framework

See if your country’s constitution or fundamental law provides for a constitutional right to clean air, or to a clean and healthy environment. Analyze the existing national laws and regulations that apply to your jurisdiction and relate to air quality. 

Review any international legal obligation that apply to your jurisdiction, for instance regional treaties like the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention), or soft law agreements such as the Southern African Development Community Regional Policy Framework on Air Pollution.

02 Analyse your current governance and existing institutional arrangements for air quality management

Reducing air pollution requires coordination across multiple scales and sectors - sound governance and solid institutional arrangements are therefore essential foundations of effective Air Quality Management (AQM). 

Start by analyzing the current governance and existing institutional setup in your jurisdiction: map all agencies, departments, and government levels involved in AQM; understand their mandates and legal authority; identify areas of overlap and opportunities for increased coordination. Then identify any gaps or barriers that could hinder AQM planning and identify solutions with counterparts. 

03 Designate (or set up) the leading institution responsible for air quality management

Establishing the institution responsible for taking the lead on air quality management is a key step to sound air quality governance. This institution can take many forms (a department within the Ministry of Environment, a public agency, a task force directly attached to the President or Prime Minister office) and sit at different scales of government (central or subnational). There is no “one-size-fits-all”, and different options can be considered to best fit with the existing governance framework and circumstances of your jurisdiction. 

Whichever option is implemented, it is essential to meet a number of key criteria: the mandate and authority of this institution should be clear to all stakeholders involved, with explicit lines of accountability; and the institution should be adequately staffed and funded to fulfill its mission. 

It is also recommended to establish close coordination with the institution responsible for climate change mitigation from the outset. This will allow for an integrated “one atmosphere” approach combining climate and clean air planning for maximum impact and efficiency.

04  Ensure vertical coordination

To ensure effective air quality management, clear vertical coordination between national and subnational governments is essential. This involves defining roles, responsibilities, and institutional arrangements across all levels—central, state, provincial, and local. 

Ensure you have clarity over how the lead AQM institution will interact and coordinate with counterparts at the subnational level in order to maintain coherence and alignment across different layers of government, ensuring consistent and coordinated implementation of air quality policies. 

05 Benchmark National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Benchmark National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) adopted by neighboring countries, those sharing the same airshed as your jurisdiction, or other countries with similar political, social and economic circumstances. Compare these NAAQS to WHO Air Quality Guidelines, associated interim targets, and other relevant standards. Gauge the level of ambition your jurisdiction can aim for when adopting or updating its NAAQS. 

06 Understand air pollution levels and associated health impacts in your jurisdiction

Find out about concentrations in your jurisdiction for key criteria pollutants, looking at official data from your country’s or city’s reference monitoring network (see Air Quality Monitoring guidance). In the absence of such a network, look at global databases for air pollution concentrations. Assess air pollution levels with regards to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines and associated interim targets.

Understand the associated impacts on health (see Health Impact Assessment guidance) and the environment (see Environmental Benefits Assessment guidance).

07 Conduct a formal stakeholder consultation

Engage a wide range of stakeholders—including national and local governments, the health sector, scientists, and civil society—in consultations on adopting national ambient air quality standards. These discussions should address the appropriate level of ambition and how it can be progressively strengthened.

Formal stakeholder engagement, through surveys, workshops, and bilateral meetings, helps refine policy proposals and build cross-sectoral support, ensuring the standards are practical, grounded in science, and widely accepted across key stakeholders groups and levels of governance (See Public Engagement and Communications guidance – Stage 2, Steps 6 and 8 as well as Stage 3, Step 4).

08 Ensure procedural rights for ambient air quality

Procedural rights are a key element of robust air quality governance and should be guaranteed and embedded in law. This includes public access to air quality data and meaningful consultation of civil society (See Public Engagement and Communications guidance – Stage 3, Step 9). Individuals must also have the legal right to challenge decisions or inaction through appropriate legal avenues. Transparent processes, openly available data, and inclusive consultation practices are essential to building trust and ensuring equity in clean air policy.

09 Establish or update your National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Once you have developed a solid understanding of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in neighboring or comparable countries, and your own jurisdiction’s current air pollution levels, you can begin considering how to adopt NAAQS that are appropriate for your context and grounded in science.

NAAQS should signal ambition and political will to act on clean air, while remaining realistically attainable for your jurisdiction. An effective approach is to implement progressive interim targets that gradually increase ambition over time, and/or to provide for a periodic review (and strengthening) of the NAAQS after a given period of time.
In addition to standards for the protection of human health, you can also consider adopting a target for the protection of vegetation for tropospheric ozone (see Environmental Benefits Assessment guidance – Stage 2, Steps 1&3).

10 Ensure compliance and enforcement

Design a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework to track progress on the implementation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): define indicators, set baselines, assign responsibilities, and schedule regular reviews.

As much as possible, this M&E framework should rely on robust air quality data to assess compliance with NAAQS (see Air Quality Monitoring Guidance).

Achieving the objectives set out in the NAAQS will require implementing a range of policies to reduce emissions at source. These policies, as well as the overall mitigation strategy, should be set out in a Clean Air Plan (see Legal Framework, Policy Design and Implementation guidance – Stage 3).