Lawyer and political scientist, Matías Ibáñez is the Coordinator of Operations at the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP/RAC–MedWaves). In his current role, Matías coordinates and provides support for the overall Centre’s financial, legal and operational processes within the scope of its activities, projects and execution of its mandate under the framework of the Barcelona Convention (UNEP) and the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP). Furthermore, as part of his duties, Matías leads the implementation of initiatives under the UNEP/MAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter in the Mediterranean, particularly by providing legal support to governments in the design of policy instruments and the formulation of plans and strategies to combat and reduce waste and toxic pollutants, replacing single-use plastics in coastal tourist areas, as well as implementing cooperation and waste prevention projects with the private sector and the HORECA industry. In previous roles during these last years, Matías has provided legal, programmatic and technical support on development cooperation matters at various international organizations, including the Council of Europe (2016), the European Parliament (2017–2018), the OECD (2019–2020), the IOM Regional Office in Costa Rica (2020–2021) and the European Institute of the Mediterranean – IEMed (2021–2023). Matías holds a BA in Law from the University of Valencia (Spain), a BA in Political Science & Public Administration from the University of Valencia (Spain), and a Master’s in Human Rights & Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po Paris (France).