The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an international organization founded with the primary goal of promoting solar energy and accelerating the deployment of solar power technologies in countries located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
The ISA was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in November 2015 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the President of France, François Hollande.
Key objectives and features of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) include:
Solar Energy Promotion: ISA's main objective is to encourage the adoption and utilization of solar energy in its member countries to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and combat climate change.
Solar Capacity Building: The alliance aims to facilitate capacity building, technology transfer, and knowledge sharing among member countries to develop and deploy solar energy solutions effectively.
Affordable Financing: ISA works to mobilize funding and investment for solar projects, especially in countries that may have limited access to affordable financing for renewable energy initiatives.
Solar Research and Development: ISA supports research and development efforts to advance solar energy technologies, making them more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible.
Solar Projects: The alliance helps coordinate and implement solar projects in member countries, focusing on areas such as solar power generation, solar heating and cooling, and off-grid solar solutions.
Policy and Regulatory Support: ISA assists member countries in developing favorable policies, regulations, and incentives to promote solar energy adoption.
Global Cooperation: ISA collaborates with other international organizations, governments, and industry stakeholders to drive global efforts in renewable energy and sustainability.
ISA had grown to include 114 member countries, primarily from regions with high solar potential, including countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
India has played a leading role in the establishment and promotion of the ISA, and the organization's headquarters is located in Gurugram, India.
The ISA represents a significant effort to leverage solar energy as a clean and sustainable power source, particularly in regions where solar resources are abundant, and energy access remains a challenge. It aims to contribute to the achievement of global climate goals and the transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon energy future.
The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration 2023 emphasized the importance of speeding up the transition towards clean, sustainable, and equitable energy, utilizing different methods. They also expressed their backing for the establishment of open and honest international markets for hydrogen generated from zero or low-carbon technologies.
As a part of the above goal, the leaders took note of India's initiative to establish the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre steered by the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), a gathering of 116 member countries formed to accelerate the global adoption of solar technology, will for the first time compile and release a ‘global solar stock-take report.’
This is inspired by the first ever ‘Global Stocktake’ of the United Nations Conference of Parties, scheduled in Dubai later this year.
Here, countries are expected to give an account of the actions taken until now to transition their economies away from fossil fuel and lay out plans to course correct, if their commitments are insufficient to prevent runaway global warming. The Global Stocktake follows from the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 and is expected once in five years.
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