The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, will travel to Geneva this afternoon to promote the Government's central role in major United Nations projects.

While in Switzerland, Minister Serret will offer her response tomorrow evening to the main conclusions of the debate taking place at the General Affairs Council of the European Union in Brussels regarding the official status of Catalan in European institutions.

On Thursday, Minister Serret will hold meetings to promote the strategic role of governments such as Catalonia's – closer to its citizens and with the capacity to legislate and implement public policies – in the development of international treaties, such as the one currently being negotiated to combat pollution caused by plastics. The treaty, which is expected to be the most ambitious on plastics ever, is led by the United Nations Environment Programme.

The meetings will be with the director of the Global Cities Hub, an organisation based in Geneva that works to promote the leadership of governments like Catalonia's in the multilateral sphere; and with the coordinator of the Geneva Environmental Network, a network that brings together international organisations, United Nations agencies and relevant environmental entities based in Geneva. Both organisations are collaborating with the Catalan Government in the process of negotiating the treaty.

The participation of the Government of Catalonia in the negotiations of the international treaty against plastic pollution

The Government of Catalonia, through the Waste Agency of Catalonia and the Government Delegation to Switzerland, took part in November in the third negotiating session of the intergovernmental committee for the international treaty against plastic pollution in Nairobi, at the central offices of the United Nations Environment Programme.

The Government of Catalonia is taking a leading role as a regional government in the negotiation process of this international treaty, together with Quebec. The participation of the Catalan Government in this process is a good use of its political influence on the global stage on a strategic issue such as plastic pollution. It demonstrates the necessary active involvement of regional actors in the United Nations multilateral system.