PM to inaugurate 1st Assembly of ISA in presence of UN Secretary General

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is organising the First Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA), the 2^nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2^nd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo, (REINVEST- 2018) from October 2 to 5, 2018 in New Delhi.

The three events will be inaugurated at a common function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Antonio Guterres, Secretary General, United Nations, on October 2, 2018, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The Business and Technical Sessions of ISA Assembly, IORA Meet and RE-INVEST 2018 Expo will be held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, UP, according to a PIB release.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), an Indian initiative, was launched jointly by Narendra Modi,  Prime Minister of India and François Hollande, the then President of France on November 30, 2015, in Paris, France, on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (CoP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Alliance opened ISA Framework Agreement for signature on November 15, 2016, in Marrakech, Morocco, on the sidelines of COP-22.

In conformity with the ISA Framework Agreement, 30 days after ratification by the 15th country, on December 6, 2017, ISA became the first fullfledged treaty based international inter-governmental organization headquartered in India. Through this initiative, the countries, inter alia, share the collective ambition: (i) to address obstacles that stand in the way of rapid and massive scale-up of solar energy (ii) to undertake innovative and concerted efforts for reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment of competitive solar generation, mobilise more than 1000 Billion US Dollars of investments by 2030.

The Government of India has committed Rs 175 crore for setting up of ISA and till date released a sum of Rs 140 crore for creating a corpus fund, building infrastructure and meeting day to day recurring expenditure.

On March 11, 2018, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the President of France Emmanuel Macron co-hosted the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Forty eight countries including India participated at this conference. In addition, there were representations from the United Nations, Multilateral Development Banks, energy-related think tanks, corporate sector and civil society.

The Delhi Solar Agenda, adopted at the Founding Conference of the ISA, states that the ISA member States inter-alia have agreed to pursue an increased share of solar energy in the final energy consumption in respective national energy mix, as a means of tackling global challenges of climate change and as a cost-effective solution by supporting and implementing policy initiatives and participation of all relevant stakeholders, as applicable, in respective States.

Consequent to the Founding Conference, the first Assembly of ISA will be held from October 2 to 5,  2018. Till date, out of 121 prospective member countries that lie either fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, 68 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA. Out of 68 countries that have signed Framework Agreement of the ISA, 44 countries have deposited the instrument of ratification.

The first Assembly, in a way, will lay the foundation for global Solar Agenda. The Assembly, as supreme decision making body of the ISA, will steer the process to significantly harness solar energy for achieving universal energy access at affordable rates.