ISA slated to become Treaty-based International Intergovernmental Organization

India based, International Solar Alliance – ISA slated to become Treaty-based International Intergovernmental organization. In terms of its Framework Agreement, with ratification by Guinea as the 15th country on 6th November 2017, the ISA will become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization tomorrow.

ISA is an Indian initiative, jointly launched on the side lines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference by the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi and the President of France on 30^th November 2015 in Paris. It aims to address obstacles to deployment at scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. As of date, 46 countries have signed and 19 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of ISA.

The signatory countries include – Australia, Bangladesh. Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guiana, Fiji, France, Gabonese Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, India, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Togolese Republic, Tuvalu, UAE, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.

The countries that ratified this agreement, are – India, France, Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Cuba, Fiji, Guinea, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Peru, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu.

ISA Interim Secretariat has been operational as a de-facto organization since 25th January, 2016.  Three programmes – Scaling Solar Applications for Agriculture Use, Affordable Finance at Scale, and Scaling Solar Mini-grids – have been launched. The Paris Declaration establishing ISA states that the countries share the collective ambition to undertake innovative and concerted efforts for reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment solar generation assets. This will help pave the way for future solar generation, storage and good technologies for each prospective member countries’ individual needs, by effectively mobilizing more than US$1000 billion in investments that will be required by 2030. ISA has its Secretariat located in the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy, Gwalpahari, Gurgaon – Haryana. India has offered to meet ISA Secretariat expenses for initial five years.  In addition, the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India has set aside US$2 billion for solar projects in Africa out of Government of India’s US$10 billion concessional Line of Credit (LOC) for Africa. Government of France has also earmarked Euro 300 million soft loan for solar related projects in ISA member.