About International Solar Alliance

• International Solar Alliance (ISA)  is an Indian initiative that was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30th November 2015 in Paris, France on the side-lines of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21).
• It is a coalition of solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn to specifically address energy needs by harnessing solar energy.
• The Alliance aims to provide a platform for prospective member countries to collaborate and address the identified gaps through a common agreed approach.
• ISA has been envisioned as a dedicated platform that aims to contribute towards the common goal of increasing utilization and promote solar energy and solar applications in the prospective member countries to help the world transform to a low-carbon and greener society.
• The ISA Framework Agreement has a total of 14 articles. There are no targets or legal obligations imposed on member-countries.  
• Members take coordinated actions through Programmes and activities launched on a voluntary basis, aimed at better harmonizing and aggregating demand for, inter alia, solar finance, solar technologies, innovation, research and development, and capacity building.
• UN member countries which are located beyond the Tropics can join the ISA as “Partner Countries”, with the exception of voting rights.
• Organizations that have potential to help the ISA achieve its objectives including regional intergovernmental economic integration organizations constituted by sovereign states at least one of which is a member of the ISA can join the ISA as a “Partner Organization ”.
• The United Nations including its organs can join the ISA as “Strategic Partners”.

Structure of the ISA 

• The ISA will have a two-tier structure – the Assembly and the Secretariat.
• Each member-country is represented in the Assembly, which meets annually at the Ministerial level at the seat of the ISA. The Assembly may also meet under special circumstances.
• The Assembly makes all necessary decisions regarding the functioning of the ISA, including the selection of the Director General and approval of the operating budget.
• Each Member has one vote in the Assembly.
• Partner Countries, Partner Organizations, Strategic Partners, and Observers may participate without having the right to vote.

Objectives

• As guided by the Framework Agreement of the ISA, the interests and objectives of the ISA are as follows:
  • To collectively address key common challenges to scale up solar energy applications in line with their needs;
  • To mobilize investments of more than USD 1000 billion by 2030; 
  • To take coordinated action through programmes and activities launched on a voluntary basis, aimed at better harmonization, aggregation of demand, risk and resources, for promoting solar finance, solar technologies, innovation, R&D, capacity building etc.;

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding global climate change agreement, adopted at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015. The Agreement entered into force in 2016.
• The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• A key feature of the Paris Agreement has been the way the agreement reflects the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ (CBDR). This principle acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change.
• Under the Paris Agreement, developed countries are under obligation to mobilise at least $100 billion every year from the year 2020 in climate finance meant for the developing world. This amount has to be revised upwards after five years.
• The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts.

India’s NDCs for Paris agreement 

• To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels.
• To achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030, with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance, including from the Green Climate Fund.
• To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.