India to host 1st International Solar Alliance on 11th March

India will host the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit on March 11, 2018 in New Delhi. It will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Who all will be attending the ISA summit?

The International Solar Alliance Summit will be attended by leaders from over 50 member countries.

It will include French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

Objective behind the Summit

• The International Solar Alliance aims to launch 121 projects during the summit.

• These 121 projects will be signed in two phases - with 50 on March 11 and another 71 on April 20.

• During the summit, two new programmes will be inaugurated. These programmes will be on- Scaling Solar E-Mobility and Storage, and Rooftop Solar.

When did International Solar Alliance come into force?

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) became a treaty-based international inter-governmental organisation on December 6, 2017 following the ratification by Guinea on November 6, 2017.

Headquartered at Gurugram, ISA aims at large scale deployment of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar rich countries lying between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Till date, 46 countries have signed and 19 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of International Solar Alliance.

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About International Solar Alliance (ISA)

• The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on the first day of the COP-21 summit at Paris in 2015.

• Headquartered in India, the alliance was conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to collaborate on meeting their energy needs through a common and agreed approach.

• It is India’s first international and inter-governmental organization of 121 Countries and has headquarters in India with United Nations as Strategic Partner.

• It aims to create a collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies to enhance energy security and sustainable development.

• It’s Governing Structure consists of an Assembly, a Council and a Secretariat.

International Solar Alliance comes into force