Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance

The Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance was held in New Delhi, India, on March 11, 2018. The event began with the arrival of dignitaries to the national capital; followed by the welcome of the Heads of State/Government at the Rashtrapati Bhavan i.e. the President’s House, where they were received by the Indian President H.E. Ram Nath Kovind.

The one-day Founding Conference included an Inaugural Session, followed by Plenary and Technical Sessions and will be attended by Heads of State/Heads of Government, dignitaries from the United Nations, Presidents of Multilateral Development Banks and global funds/financial institutions, leaders from energy-related institutions, corporate sector, and civil society.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Paris on November 30, 2015, by Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.

The Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Hollande jointly laid the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat of the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Haryana on  January 25, 2016. Launching the Secretariat, Prime Minister of India stated that the ISA as a potent tool for mutual cooperation among the member countries for mutual gains through enhances in solar energy utilization.

The International Steering Committee (ISC) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), open to all 121 prospective member countries of the ISA held its meetings in Paris (1 Dec 2015), Abu Dhabi (18 Jan 2016), New York (22 April 2016), New Delhi (4 Oct 2016), and again in New Delhi (26 Sept 2017). At the 4th ISC meeting in New Delhi, the draft Framework Agreement on the establishment of the ISA was circulated among the prospective member countries. Prospective ISA countries. The finalized ISA Framework Agreement, which seeks to establish ISA as a treaty-based organization was opened for signature at the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-22) in Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016.

To date, a total of 56 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican, Republic, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Gambia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Yemen have signed the ISA Framework Agreement.

The ISA Framework Agreement (FA) requires that at least 15 countries ratify the ISA FA for the ISA to become a legal entity. The 15th ratification instrument was deposited on 6 Nov 2017 and the ISA became a legal entity on 6 Dec 2017 (30 days after the 15th ratification instrument was deposited with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India – the Depository for the ISA). To date, a total of 26 countries [Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Cuba, Fiji, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Peru, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Togo, Tuvalu, and Uganda] have ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.

Source: ISA