The President of the Government of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, began his official trip to Glasgow on the occasion of the COP26 Climate Summit with a meeting with the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, during which they discussed "the shared struggles against climate change, in a transition that must be fair, and which must serve to generate opportunities for the creation of new jobs".

"This is an important challenge for society, the economy and the Scottish nation, from which we can learn", added the president, and pointed out that "we wanted to share the projects that we are working on from Catalonia in the field of decarbonization of the economy and to accompany the productive sectors that are affected by everything that entails a firm commitment to the fight against climate change".

In statements to the media, President Aragonès affirmed that "Scotland and Catalonia are two peoples who share many desires, aspirations and ways of being able to get there". Asked about the referendum in Scotland, the head of the Government has expressed "all the support to the Scottish people, whatever they decide" and has reiterated the "commitment of the Government of Catalonia in a process of negotiation with the Spanish State that must culminate in a referendum on the independence of Catalonia and in an amnesty". "This is a government that works every day for the independence of the country, but also for a just ecological transition, for a better society, for a feminist, green and productive country", he concluded.

In the same vein, the head of the Executive stressed that "it is important that in Catalonia we look at Scotland and its project for independence, because it is based on policies of social justice, equal opportunities and absolutely committed to the ecological transition and the fight against climate change". "It is a very good example and we from the Government of Catalonia are doing the same", he said. And he added that these are "two pro-independence, progressive governments, that what we want is to achieve for our peoples the recognition of their right to decide their future".

In addition to the meeting with the Scottish Prime Minister, the head of the Government has held other contacts, such as a representation of the Government of Baden-Württemberg, led by the Minister-President of this German land, Winfried Kretschmann, and the governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee.

Accompanying the President on this official trip to Glasgow on the occasion of COP26 are the Minister of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà i Roura, and the Government Delegate to the United Kingdom, Sergi Marcen.

Under2 Assembly

After the meeting with Nicola Sturgeon, the President participated in the General Assembly of the Under2, the coalition of state and regional governments committed to reducing CO2 emissions, in line with the Paris Agreement. During the Energy, Transport, Industry and Infrastructure Leadership session, Pere Aragonès stated that "the green transition is imperative, both from the environmental point of view and the fight against climate change, as well as from the economic point of view". He assured that this "implies fundamental changes and transformations", which "must be governed and accompanied by the administrations".

The head of the Government has emphasized that "the green transition is imperative, both from the environmental point of view and the fight against climate change, as well as from the economic point of view". This green transition must "improve the lives of citizens", he said, and assured that this "implies changes and fundamental transformations", which "must be governed and accompanied by the administrations".

President Aragonès explained that this change of model requires "extraordinary investments to accelerate the changes" and pointed out that in this line "we have a unique opportunity with the Next Generation Funds", which "must serve to create a strong, sustainable and resilient productive fabric". "Every euro that is not invested in a transformative key is a euro spent in vain", he concluded.

The head of the Executive explained what is being done in Catalonia in this area, both at a legislative level, with the law on climate change or the decree to accelerate the implementation of renewable energies, and at a strategic level. And he affirmed that "we do so by accompanying or directly promoting transforming projects as relevant as the commitment to the production of green hydrogen, biomass and biogas, the creation of a public energy company, the improvement of the public transport network and the promotion of electric mobility". The president stressed the importance of "accompanying a reindustrialization based on the digitalization and sustainability of such important sectors for our economy as the automotive or the entire food industry".