With the right investment and policy support, solar energy has the potential to boost economic development, empower millions of people and avert the climate crises.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was launched at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in 2015 by India and France.
ISA is a treaty-based coalition of 121 countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with high annual average global horizontal irradiation (GHI), to address their energy needs through solar power.
Notably, ISA is the first ever treaty based international government organization that is headquartered in India – making it the centre-stage for India’s attempts at a global climate leadership role. ISA is part of India's effort to advance a low-carbon economy, including a domestic target to install 450 GW renewable energy by 2022.
When ISA was first set up, Shakti collaborated with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) to provide a broad range of strategic inputs to ISA for reaching out to member countries, showcasing its value proposition, along with developing and implementing its work programs.
In the years that followed, Shakti actively engaged with the interim ISA secretariat during the ratification process and provided inputs to the alliance’s Interim administrative cell to help formalize the legal institutional structure. We also helped ISA develop a set of options to strengthen the value proposition of scaling solar applications for agricultural use programs and create a template for member country solar roadmaps.
In 2018, Shakti joined the that works with the corporate sector, foundations, think tanks, chambers of commerce and industry to promotes innovation, risk mitigation and financing in the solar sector.
“An energy system underpinned by renewables is key to decarbonizing the global economy in line with climate goals as well as delivering improved air quality and human health. Under this MoU, ISA and Shakti will seek to make the clean energy transition a reality as countries take steps to rebuild their economies after the pandemic.”
-Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj CEO, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
And in August 2021, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ISA to offer its expertise to collaborate around opportunities in solar, energy storage and electric mobility. Under this MoU, Shakti and ISA will collaborate to advance national and global policy frameworks for accelerated solar deployment, facilitate technical and financial feasibility studies and support the “One Sun, One World, One Grid” concept of the ISA. Read the full press release here.
We must turn to renewable sources like solar to power our future. Nearly six years since it was set up, ISA continues to set the tone for more climate action and propel countries towards collective and flexible cooperation on solar energy.