The government of the City of Buenos Aires held the fourth city workshop of the Clean Air Initiative in Latin American Cities on April 4-6, 2000. The workshop was organized jointly between the Secretariat of Environment and the program and was attended by more than 450 participants.

The vast majority of attendees were from the Buenos Aires metropolitan region and from some secondary Argentine cities, Cordoba, Mendoza, and Rosario. There was significant representation from the local, regional, and federal agencies; private companies from the transport, energy, and industrial sectors; academia; NGOs; and foundations active in environmental issues and education. International delegates
included representatives of other Latin American cities and private sector companies and associations, together with representatives of multilateral and bilateral agencies.

Parallel technical sessions were organized along with the workshop; they covered specific issues relevant to the Buenos Aires Clean Air program and to the Clean Air Initiative in general:

• Epidemiological monitoring systems, heath risk assessment, and social costs
• Air quality monitoring, emissions inventories, and air
  quality modeling
• Fuel quality and environmental impacts
• Public participation in air quality management
• Clean vehicle/fuel technologies
• Inspection and maintenance programs
• Training for taxi drivers
• Climate change and air quality management.

The general consensus was that the establishment of a metropolitan approach to air quality management is a necessary condition for success. The following actions were identified as priority areas for action: (i) strengthening the enforcement capacity through training of personnel for the inspection and maintenance systems, (ii) planning and developing a cycle-lane system that would connect to other means of transportation, and (iii) developing an emissions inventory for fixed sources. A Spanish government financial allocation was secured by the Clean Air Initiative to carry out the studies and priority activities.