US joins International Solar Alliance as 101st member country

• The United States became the 101st member country of the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA), as US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry signed the ISA framework agreement.

• Kerry described the US membership as a major step towards the rapid deployment of solar power, as he formally signed the framework agreement at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

• Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav welcomed the US as a  member of the ISA, saying this move will strengthen the solar alliance and propel future action on providing a clean source of energy to the world.

• The alliance highlights how the approach and methods detailed in the ISA framework have already delivered results, with ISA building a solar project pipeline of nearly 5 GW installed capacity. 

• The approach detailed in the framework is designed to culminate in a vision for interconnected global grids, which was formalised and jointly launched as the Green Grids Initiative — One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG), during the World Leaders Summit of the COP26 in Glasgow.

• Earlier at COP26, the United States also joined the Steering Committee of the GGI-OSOWOG comprising five members — US, Australia, France, UK, and India — and endorsed the One Sun Declaration along with 80 countries. 

International Solar Alliance

• International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an inter-governmental treaty-based organisation with a global mandate to catalyse solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology.

• The ISA was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on November 30, 2015, in Paris on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC.

• The ISA Framework Agreement was opened for signature on November 15, 2016, in Marrakech, Morocco, on the sidelines of COP22.

• On March 11, 2018, Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-hosted the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• Membership is open to those solar resource-rich states that lie fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and are members of the UN.

• ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries (which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) to address their special energy needs. 

• The vision and mission of the ISA is to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar-resource-rich countries, through which the global community, including governments, bilateral and multilateral organisations, corporates, industry, and other stakeholders, can contribute to help achieve the common goal of increasing the use and quality of solar energy in meeting energy needs of prospective ISA member countries in a safe, convenient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner.

• ISA has been positioned to help create the conditions that would make funding, developing and deploying solar applications on a large scale a reality. 

• ISA is now perceived as key to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Objectives of ISA:

• To address obstacles that stand in the way of rapid and massive scale-up of solar energy.

• To undertake innovative and concerted efforts for reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment of competitive solar generation.

• To mobilise more than $1000 billion of investments by 2030. 

• Reduce the cost of finance to increase investments in solar energy in member countries by promoting innovative financial mechanisms and mobilising finance from institutions.

• Scale up applications of solar technologies in member countries.

• Facilitate collaborative research and development (R&D) activities in solar energy technologies among member countries.

• Promote a common cyber platform for networking, cooperation and exchange of ideas among member countries.

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