The United Nations Environment Assembly,

Noting the World Health Organization estimate, from the report adopted by its Executive Board in May 2014, that air pollution contributes to 7 million premature deaths each year globally, a burden of disease that may now exceed the burdens of malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined,

Recalling the mandate of the United Nations Environment Programme as outlined in Governing Council decision 27/2, paragraph 2,

Recognizing that poor air quality is a growing challenge in the context of sustainable development, in particular related to health in cities and urban areas, and that efforts across sectors to improve air quality are needed,

Recognizing also that air pollution is an impediment to national sustainable development, impacting, among many other issues, the economy, worker productivity, health-care costs and tourism,

Aware that promoting air quality is a priority to protect public health and provide co-benefits for the climate, ecosystem services, biodiversity and food security,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 66/288 of 27 July 2012, by which the Assembly endorsed the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”, in which all States Members of the United Nations committed to promoting sustainable development policies that support healthy air quality in the context of sustainable cities and human settlements and recognized that reducing air pollution leads to positive effects on health,

Aware that the nineteenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean adopted a decision for a Regional Plan of Action on Atmospheric Pollution,

Recalling with appreciation existing efforts to support actions at all levels to improve air quality, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and its eight protocols, the World Health Organization guidelines on ambient air quality, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, and the important contributions that initiatives such as UNEP Live, global environmental monitoring systems, the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia and the Malé Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change, have made to sharing information and best practices,

1. Encourages Governments to take action across sectors to improve air quality to protect human health and the environment, reduce negative impacts, including on the economy, and promote sustainable development;

2. Also encourages Governments to formulate action plans and establish and implement nationally determined ambient air quality standards, taking into account the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines and other relevant information and to establish emissions standards for their significant sources of air pollution;

3. Encourages Governments and intergovernmental, regional and international organizations to make air quality data more easily accessible and understandable to the public;

4. Encourages Governments to share with the secretariat of the United Nations Environment Programme and member States the results and experiences of their efforts taken pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the present resolution prior to the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, to be held in 2016;

5. Requests the Executive Director:

(a) To undertake strengthened capacity-building activities on air quality, such as workshops and policy development assistance, to support Governments in their efforts to implement paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the present resolution;

(b) To raise awareness of the public health and environmental risks of air pollution and the multiple benefits of improved air quality, including through public outreach campaigns as well as Global Environment Outlook assessment processes, in particular in the context of the discussions on sustainable development goals as part of the post-2015 development agenda;

(c) To explore opportunities for strengthened cooperation on air pollution within the United Nations system, for example the Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization, including establishing linkages between UNEP Live, the World Meteorological Organization Information System, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, other relevant information management systems and programmes, and pertinent regional efforts and initiatives;

(d) To facilitate the operation of existing United Nations Environment Programme-supported intergovernmental programmes on the assessment of air quality issues;

(e) To undertake global, regional and subregional, as appropriate, assessments by 2016, if possible, focused on identifying gaps in capacity to address air quality issues, including monitoring and control, opportunities for cooperation, and air pollution mitigation opportunities, building upon existing global, regional and subregional cooperative efforts on air pollution, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and its eight protocols, and information provided by States members of the United Nations Environment Programme;

6. Encourages Governments that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the relevant global agreements addressing air pollution;

7. Requests the Executive Director to submit and present a report on the information provided by Governments pursuant to paragraph 4 of the present resolution and to provide an update on progress made in implementing the present resolution to the United Nations Environment Assembly at its second session.