International Solar Alliance to Become a treaty-based Legal Entity on December 6

44 countries have already signed the ISA treaty, and many more are set to join.

International Solar Alliance (ISA), the India-headquartered grouping of 121 nations for promotion of solar energy, will become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization on December 6 this year, according to Interim Director-General, Upendra Tripathy.

Speaking at a curtain raiser for the founding ceremony of the (ISA) in Bonn, Germany, Tripathy, in a statement said, 44 countries have already signed the ISA treaty. Tripathy also spoke on the ISA’s three ongoing programmes: facilitating affordable finance for solar, scaling up solar applications for agriculture, and promoting solar mini-grids in member nations.

The discussions also covered the ISA’s Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) project, aimed at de-risking investments in solar energy projects in developing countries and, thereby, encouraging flow of funds into the sector, the statement added.

Speaking at the event, Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, hoped that, in the spirit of affirmative action, developed countries would earmark a percentage of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) towards solar energy projects in developing countries.

Kumar suggested that Multilateral Development Banks and other financial institutions provide wholehearted support for solar projects through low-cost finance, and research & technology institutions worldwide try their utmost to bring the cost of solar power and storage within reach of all. He also invited corporates and other institutions to support solar energy development and deployment in every possible manner.

C K Mishra, Secretary, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, underlined the need for visualizing solar energy in the context of sustainable development goals. He emphasized upon the need for arranging technologies, finance and capacity building for solar energy projects, as well as for developing storage technologies. He also suggested that there is a need to work in the areas of renewable power evacuation and application of off-grid solar energy.

Speaking at the occasion, Ségolène Royal, Special Envoy for the implementation of the ISA, Government of France, emphasized upon five key points to accelerate global solar deployment: setting concrete goals, developing and leveraging common tools, enhancing projects, establishing decentralized PV solutions, and forging new partnerships that capitalize on complementary capabilities.

The ISA was initially proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and launched at the India Africa Summit ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.

Source: PIB