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The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, intervened tonight in New York in one of the sessions of the General Assembly of the Under 2 Coalition - a network of governments around the world committed to reducing emissions -, covering the topic of "Financing the transition in a fair and equitable way".

The head of the Executive has defended that, given the urgency of the fight against energy poverty and the supply crisis, the Government of the Generalitat "works to implement a democratic, decentralized, sustainable, participatory and socially inclusive energy model", that guarantees the right to energy supply "of the entire population, with sufficiency, efficiency and quality". Thus, he cited the Citizen Energy Communities, a model based on the empowerment of citizens and companies, or the promotion of the energy transition, bringing renewables throughout the territory, as examples of this integrative policy.

"People are at the heart of all our policies, especially the most vulnerable," said Aragonès, who stressed that "the sustainability of the energy model we are transitioning to is about attending to and covering the basic energy needs of all people."

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In this sense, the president stressed the need for the energy transition "not to leave anyone behind" and, at the same time, "involve everyone". "The model transition entails changes in economic and social development, and they must be done with the complicity, involvement and commitment of everyone: all companies and all citizens as true protagonists of the transformation", he affirmed.

Consistent with this idea, Aragonès pointed out that the Government has introduced the obligation to count on the population and the administration in new infrastructure projects to produce renewable energy, "because we believe in democracy and the empowerment of citizens". "We work tirelessly to achieve broad political and social commitment through extensive, inclusive, calm and rigorous social debate," he said.

In order to finance this transition, the President explained in his speech that Catalonia has been provided with various tax figures, such as the tax on CO2 emissions on vehicles, the tax on facilities that affect the environment or the tax on greenhouse gas emissions in economic activities. Some actions, he pointed out, that endow the Climate Fund with 80 million euros and the Natural Heritage Fund with another 80 million euros.

The president was accompanied by the Minister for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà, with whom she also participated in the opening ceremony of Climate Week. Together with the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, Climate Week is the world's most important event on the climate crisis and brings together world leaders, entrepreneurs, activists and other influential actors.

Bilateral meetings

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As part of the Under 2 Coalition General Assembly, the President held a bilateral meeting with the Governor of the South Korean Chungcheongnam-do region, Kim Tae-heum. The president and governor have addressed the growing trade relations between the two countries. A few months ago, the South Korean battery components company ILJIN announced an investment of 600 million euros to open its first factory in Europe, in Mont-roig del Camp (Baix Camp).

Aragonès, accompanied by Councillor Jordà, also met with Scottish Environment Minister Màiri McAllan. The two countries maintain fluid relations and open channels of cooperation in common challenges such as the energy transition. The President and the Minister have been able to exchange views and experiences on the Catalan public energy project that the Government will approve in two weeks, and on other projects that the Government plans to launch in the coming weeks. They have also analyzed together the future of sustainable agriculture and livestock . Both countries agree that the energy transition must be fair and that is why citizens must be on the main focus. Both executives are committed to democratizing policies related to combating climate change.