US joins International Solar Alliance

A statement from the Environment Ministry on Wednesday said the US move was “a huge boost” to “global adoption of solar energy”.

John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, announced America’s entry into the ISA at the ongoing United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, also known as the Conference of the Parties (COP 26).

“The US has become the 101st country to sign the framework agreement of the ISA to catalyze the global energy transition through a solar-based approach,” the Indian statement said.

Welcoming the United States of America as the 101st member of the ISA, Indian Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said that “the move will strengthen the ISA and inspire future action on providing the world with a clean source of energy.”

In his remarks, Kerry said: “It is a long time coming, and we are delighted to join the International Solar Alliance, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its creation. We have worked out the details and it is a process that we are happy to be a part of. This will be a significant contribution to the more rapid deployment of solar energy on a global scale. This will be especially important for developing countries.”

Ajay Mathur, Director General of ISA, said, “The US support of the ISA framework and vision is an encouraging development, especially as our 101st member nation, which is a significant milestone in itself, showing that the world countries across the economic and climate mitigation value of solar as well as the potential of this energy source as a catalyst for the global energy transition.”

India and France launched the ISA in November 2015 at the 21st session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP-21) in Paris.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the launch along with the heads of around 120 countries who supported the ISA and pledged their participation in the Coalition to Promote Solar Energy.

The draft ISA was first circulated in 2016 for support by countries.

“The framework emphasizes delivering global relevance and local benefits to all countries through cooperation, with ISA’s key interventions focusing on readiness and enabling activities, risk mitigation and innovative financing tools,” the Indian statement said. to facilitate the promotion and deployment of solar technologies in the target markets.” said.

“The framework detailed approach and methods have already yielded results, with ISA building a solar project pipeline of approximately 5 GW of installed capacity. The detailed approach in this framework will culminate in a vision for an interconnected global grid, which is formally was launched and jointly launched as the ‘Green Grid Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid’ (GGI-OSOOOOOOG) during the World Leaders Summit of COP26. The UK Presidency of COP26 and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) ) by the Presidency of India in Glasgow on 2 November 2021,” it said.

Earlier at COP26, the US also joined the GGI-OSOWOG Steering Committee, consisting of 5 members – USA, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and India – and supported the One Sun Declaration with 80 countries.

The Indian statement said, “ISA is helping large countries meet global commitments, thereby meeting the planet’s needs for carbon emissions reduction, as well as providing economically more vulnerable countries with a self-sustaining energy option.” It is helping to establish a business that reduces trade dependence and promotes job creation.”

It said, “Universal, affordable and reliable last mile electricity connectivity at the socio-economic level is an important pillar and targeted, tangible outcome of these joint efforts towards facilitating economic growth and environmental impact.”