25 countries participating in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) have pledged to take action that could unleash investment of up to USD $1 trillion in solar energy assets.
The announcement was made at an event in New York late last week. Among the countries participating in the action are India, the USA and France.
The goal of the initiative is to better harmonize and aggregate demand for solar finance, plus mature and future solar technologies.
“A common buyers market for solar finance, technology, innovation, capacity building etc., will lead to higher quality, lower costs, products better tailored to needs, collaborative innovation, technology ownership, and a more balanced dialogue with all stakeholders,” states a press release from India’s government.
Implementation of the program will be reviewed at the Founding Conference of ISA, which will be held in New Delhi soon.
Also announced at the New York event was the formal cooperation between the Interim Administrative Cell of ISA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote solar energy globally.
India’s Minister for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal, said the declaration represented a new beginning and will assist in leveraging and accelerating the development and deployment of solar energy in ISA countries.
The International Solar Alliance was launched during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande. It is comprised of 121 countries located fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, including Australia.
The ISA will see member countries collaborating on research and innovation, setting standards, sharing knowledge and exchanging best practices. It will not attempt to duplicate the efforts of organisations such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) or the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“We share the collective ambition to undertake innovative and concerted efforts with a view to reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment of competitive solar generation assets in all our countries and to pave the way for future solar generation, storage and good technologies adapted to our countries’ individual needs,” states part of the ISA’s declaration.
