5th ISA Assembly to focus on energy access, security and transition

India will be hosting the fifth assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) ahead of the 27th round of the Conference of the Parties (COP27), to discuss energy access and security in line with the country’s energy transition aims. The meeting, scheduled in New Delhi from October 17-20 and to be held under India’s presidentship, is likely to see the participation of ministers, missions and delegates from 109 member and signatory countries of ISA.

Three analytical reports will also be launched at the meeting: World Solar Technology Report, World Solar Market Report, and World Solar Investment report.

What is ISA?

Officially announced during the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015, the International Solar Alliance is a partnership of solar resource-rich countries. Currently, 121 countries have agreed to be members of ISA. Most of them are located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as this is the region with a surplus of bright sunlight for most of the year. Pakistan is not a part of ISA yet.

India’s role

The Indian government agreed to support ISA by hosting its secretariat for an initial period of five years, and thereafter it is expected to generate its own resources and become a self-financing country.

PM Narendra Modi and then French President François Hollande inaugurated the foundation laying ceremony of this secretariat at the National Institute of Solar Energy at Gurugram in 2016. ISA became the first international intergovernmental organisation with headquarters in India.

As a part of its climate change commitments, India committed close to 50 per cent of its energy from non-fossil fuel resources by 2030. The underlying rationale for ISA is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, said its working draft. India has committed a corpus of Rs 100 crore to the ISA. India will also give secretarial assistance of Rs 225 crore for the next five years.