Two more nations ink ISA Framework Agreement; membership rises to 83

Two new countries Eritrea and Saint Kittis and Nevis have signed the International Solar Alliance's (ISA) Framework Agreement at its second Assembly in the national capital on Thursday, taking the membership strength of the body to 83, according to an official statement.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hosted the second Assembly of ISA on Thursday. Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh presided over the Assembly.

As per a statement issued by the MNRE, Singh emphasised on the increasing importance of solar energy and stated that this is very important in view of the climate change issues faced globally.

He also elaborated that the number of steps that India has taken to support the ISA, which India along France launched.

The ministry stated that delegations from 78 countries participated in this Assembly, including 29 ministerial delegations of which 25 are from ISA member countries, two from signatory countries and further two from prospective member nations.

The assembly also has participation from important ISA partners and other invitees.

It said two countries Eritrea and Saint Kittis and Nevis signed the Framework Agreement of ISA on Thursday. With this, 83 countries have signed the ISA framework agreement, it added.

At the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to increase renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022 and committed for further increasing it to 450 GW.

With over 82 GW renewable capacity on ground and about 70 GW at various stages of fruition, India is well on the way to realise the ambitious target of 175 GW by 2022, the ministry said.

Brune Poirson, co-president of ISA and the French Minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, lauded India for its leadership in the field of solar energy.

She also talked about the ISA objectives that included lowering the cost of energy, increasing investment in the renewable energy, and training and sharing of knowledge and technological know-how among the member countries.

The Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the ISA and gives directions on various administrative, financial and programme-related issues.

The ISA is an Indian initiative that was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on November 30, 2015, in Paris, France, on the sidelines of the COP-21, with 121 solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn as prospective members.

The overarching objective of the ISA is to collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in ISA member countries. The ISA is now perceived as key to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.