Global Clean Air Dialogue in Istanbul: turning air-quality data into policy

A two-day international meeting

The Global Clean Air Dialogue will be held in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 23 and 24 September 2026. UNEP says it is co-organised with the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the Forum for International Cooperation on Air Pollution, and the Government of Türkiye.

The meeting will bring together government representatives, international organisations, researchers, academia, and civil society. Its programme moves from the state of air pollution and air-quality policies to science-policy cooperation, regional frameworks, transport, finance, recommendations, and communication with the public.

Air quality is a governance problem

A sensor can show a pollutant concentration, but it cannot decide what a city should do about it. That requires standards, enforcement, transport planning, energy policy, industrial controls, health guidance, funding, and public trust. Pollution also travels across borders, so one country's progress can be limited by sources elsewhere.

The Dialogue will examine that gap between measurement and action. UNEP describes the event as a place to share evidence-based policies, legislation, tools, and technologies that can deliver benefits for health, climate, and the environment. It also aims to strengthen cooperation on monitoring, management, and governance.

The sessions to watch

• The opening assessment of global and regional pollution trends, health effects, and links with climate change.
• Science-policy interfaces and the practical obstacles that keep evidence from reaching decisions.
• Regional frameworks, including what existing agreements can teach newer forms of cooperation.
• Transport as a source of pollution and the policy measures that can cut emissions without shifting the burden elsewhere.
• Finance and public communication, especially how people can understand monitoring data and act on it.

What a strong outcome would look like

A useful outcome would name the action, the actor, the funding route, and the indicator. A recommendation to improve monitoring needs a plan for station coverage, data quality, maintenance, and public access. A transport measure needs an emissions baseline, an implementation schedule, and a way to check whether exposure falls for the people most affected.

The Dialogue cannot create a universal air-pollution treaty on its own. UNEP notes that no global agreement to reduce air pollution exists at present, while regional agreements already show that cooperation is possible. The meeting's value is in making those lessons more specific and easier to apply.

A local way to follow the discussion

Choose one official air-quality station and one exposed place near it. Record the pollutant, timestamp, weather, and data source. Then ask which local decision affects that reading and which authority is responsible. This turns a global conversation about monitoring and governance into a traceable question for a real street, school, or neighbourhood.