The key stakeholders that participate in the Clean Air Initiative in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area Region include the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Baixada Fluminense (technically known as the Air Basin III). The Air Basin III, considered to be the most degraded in terms of air quality in the metropolitan region, given its large urban and industrial occupation and poor air pollution dispersion capacity, includes the following municipalities: Belford Roxo, Duque de Caxias, Magé, Nilópolis, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados, and São João de Meriti. Other key stakeholders that participate in the Clean Air Initiative in Rio are the State Foundation for Engineering and Environment (FEEMA), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and the Ministry of Environment (MMA). An operating agreement is being discussed among these stakeholders to develop a future action plan to address the air quality problems in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area region.

The Clean Air Initiative has aimed at consolidating an air quality action plan that would bring improvements and reduce health-related effects due to the high levels of air pollution in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area Region. The activities carried out so far under the Clean Air Initiative include training and rapid courses for specialists on air quality analysis and health impacts and air pollution, creation of municipal environmental agencies (such as the Secretary of Environment of the São João de Meriti municipality), and videoconferences in which technical staff learn about the Clean Air Initiative experiences in Lima-Callao and lessons from PAHO.

Furthermore, the Clean Air Initiative workshop that took place in December 1999 served as a platform to openly discuss among key stakeholders the main issues for the development of an air quality action plan for the Air Basin III. The workshop benefited Rio officials in its efforts to develop an action plan through the participation and advice of local and international scientists, technical experts, and policymakers.

Soon after the initial workshop in Rio, the French Agency for Development and Renault agreed to provide technical and financial support to carry out a diagnosis of the air quality in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area region, with an emphasis on urban transport and air quality assessment studies. The proposed studies would be regrouped in the following three areas:

• Diagnosis of the current situation
• Application of dispersion models
• Preparation of the initial steps for an air quality action plan.

Another potential contribution to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area region action plan is the development of a health impact study that could be carried out in collaboration between the Secretariat for Environment and the Secretariat for Health of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

In summary, the Clean Air Initiative in Rio has contributed to the sharing of technical and methodological experiences through the exposure of Rio's technical staff to international workshops and independent advisory services.

In 2001 the Clean Air Initiative, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, will help to establish a working committee comprising the seven municipalities of the Baixada Fluminense and the municipality of Rio de Janeiro that would begin addressing the critical air quality management challenges. This committee should have the financial and technical support of the state environmental authorities, the French Agency for Development, and the Ministry of Environment. The Initiative will also provide the economic analysis to enable the selection of alternative investment options.