Pollution Policy-Tracker Filters Air Quality Standards Ambient Air Quality Standards In a legislative or legislatively empowered instrument In a non-binding instrument No standards Discretion to differentiate standards e.g. in different subnational states Design of legal AAQS Concentration-based Long term objective Exposure-based National emissions ceilings Objective of air pollution regime Legal right to AAQS specified in the legislation Direct reference to WHO guidelines in the instrument Legal standards for pollutants PM2.5 (10 μg/m3 annual mean 25 μg/m3 24-hour mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Partially compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data PM10 (20 μg/m3 annual mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data PM10 (50 μg/m3 24-hour mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data Ozone (100 μg/m3 8-hour mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data NO2 (40 μg/m3 annual mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data NO2 (200 μg/m3 1-hour mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data SO2 (20 μg/m3 24-hour mean) Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data SO2 500 μg/m3 10-minute mean Compliant with WHO guideline Weaker than WHO guideline No standard No data Newly acknowledged pollutants Yes No Not applicable No data Exceedances Generally allowed exceedances Other allowed exceedances (emergency reasons/natural events) Provisions for transboundary air pollution Specific indoor/household air pollution standards National Approaches to Regulating Air Quality Membership of regional cooperation agreements on air pollution Eastern Africa Regional Framework Agreement on Air Pollution (Nairobi Agreement) Central and Western African Regional Framework Agreement on Air Pollution (Abidjan Agreement) Southern Africa Regional Framework Agreement on Air Pollution (Lusaka Agreement) Regional Action Plan on Air Quality for Latin America and the Caribbean Malé Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and Its Likely Transboundary Effects for South Asia Membership of binding international/regional agreements relating to air pollution UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol) 1998 Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals 1994 Oslo Protocol on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions 1991 Geneva Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes 1988 Sofia Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes 1985 Helsinki Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions or their Transboundary Fluxes by at least 30 per cent 1984 Geneva Protocol on Long-term Financing of the Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP) ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution Stockholm Convention on POPs Constitutional guarantees Use of air quality index Definition/scope of air pollution in legislation Implementing and Administering Ambient Air Quality Standards Existence of AQ zones, attainment areas, airsheds for implementing AQ standards Nature of legal obligations Duty to meet AAQS (Binding legislative obligation on the state) Duty to take BPM to meet standard Escalating duty to take action (if AQ worsens) Duty to report to public authority Duty to plan for achieving AAQS Emergency planning requirements for dangerous AQ levels No obligations Legal requirement to monitor Enforcement mechanisms Administrative Bespoke Civil Criminal Multi-level governance mechanism Legal rights to information on air quality/duty to inform Public right to air quality data (including general right to environmental information) Duty on state to disseminate AQ information (including any breach of AAQS) Information alert threshold (i.e. public alert of high risk AQ levels) Any publicly available website showing current state of AQ Legal rights to access to justice (linked directly to air quality framework) Public participation requirements Legal role of environmental regulator in relation to air quality standards Legal coordination of policy to achieve AAQS Legally mandated policy coordination for air quality Legal link between air quality standards and decision-making on projects About this map