An indoor air quality policy maturity framework: Global exemplars and governance pathways

Household and indoor air pollution are among the leading environmental risk factors for premature death worldwide, yet unlike outdoor air pollution they remain largely unregulated: only 7% of countries have established legal standards for indoor air quality. Indoor air quality (IAQ) remains underdeveloped in national policy frameworks compared to outdoor air quality, in part because responsibility sits across different government ministries with no clear lead. This paper examines the global landscape of IAQ governance, surveying 41 countries or jurisdictions with indoor air quality policies or standards from the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate’s Indoor Air Quality Guidelines Database. Synthesized from a review of 159 policy documents across the 41 jurisdictions, the foundational IAQ literature, and public policy literature, we introduce a novel Indoor Air Quality Policy Maturity Framework to identify best practices for legislating and implementing IAQ policy. The Framework defines maturity levels across five core criteria of IAQ governance: coordination, indoor air monitoring, health-based indoor air standards, enforcement, and implementation support. Exemplar jurisdictions were selected for each criterion: Finland for coordination, Belgium for monitoring, Japan for health-based standards, South Korea for enforcement, and the United Arab Emirates for implementation support. These case studies demonstrate diverse policy pathways for achieving maturity across all five criteria of the IAQ Policy Maturity Framework, shaped by governance structures, political feasibility, and implementation capacity. The Framework provides a practical tool for assessing gaps in IAQ governance and guiding governments toward stronger, more comprehensive indoor air policies.