ISA-(International solar alliance)

What is ISA?

The ISA is a collective effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through the deployment of solar energy solutions.

It was conceptualized on the side-lines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015.

The Headquarters

The HQ is in India with its Interim Secretariat being set up in Gurugram.

Vision :

Let us together make the sun brighter.

Mission:

Every home no matter how far away, will have a light at home

Status at UNO-\

The UN General Assembly conferred Observer Status to the ISA

Head of ISA-

The International Solar Alliance is headed by the Director General

The Director General leads the operations and carries out the functions of the ISA Secretariat.

Members

With the amendment of its Framework Agreement in 2020, all member states of the United Nations are now eligible to join the ISA.

Currently, 119 countries are signatories to the ISA Framework Agreement, of which 90 countries have submitted the necessary instruments of ratification to become full members of the ISA.

Recently, Malta became the 119th country to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Strategy-

The ISA is guided by its ‘Towards 1000’ strategy which aims to mobilise USD 1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030, while delivering energy access to 1,000 million people using clean energy solutions and resulting in installation of 1,000 GW of solar energy capacity.The International Solar Alliance is headed by the Director General, who leads the operations and carries out the functions of the ISA Secretariat and is responsible to the ISA Assembly.

Important projects of the ISA:

One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG): 

The OSOWOG focuses on a framework for facilitating global cooperation, building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources (mainly solar energy) that can be seamlessly shared.

The vision behind the OSOWOG is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time.

It has been taken up under the technical assistance program of the World Bank.

ISA Solar Technology and Application Resource Centre (ISTARC):

To develop and disseminate a range of training materials for all types of audiences and aim at the setting up of harmonized training programmes using a network of training facilities that would be recognized across the ISA Member countries.

Target-

India, with a target to produce 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, would account for a tenth of ISA’s goal.