20 Countries sign framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)
Over 20 countries including Brazil and France have signed a Framework Agreement on International Solar Alliance in Marrakesh. The agreement was opened for signatures on the sidelines of CoP22 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The framework agreement would be kept open for a few weeks for more countries to sign. Once operationalised, the agreement will take the shape of a separate international treaty.
International Solar Alliance
- International Solar Alliance was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on the first day of the COP-21 summit as a union of countries with abundant sunlight. The COP-21 Climate Conference was held in Paris, France from 30 November to 12 December 2015.
- Under this alliance, 121 countries that fall within the tropics {i.e. between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn} have been invited to make collaborative efforts to harness solar energy to generate the electricity. Most of these countries fall within Asia, Africa and South America.
- This initiative is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Significance
- ISA will be a major international body headquartered in India.
- ISA would be an inter-governmental treaty-based organisation registered under Article 102 of the UN charter.
- It could be a game-changer for the global fight against climate change. It could help in aggregating demand, improve quality and reduce cost of solar energy especially for the developing countries.
- The ISA could give India an opportunity to take global leadership in mitigating climate change. India will be contributing $27 million for creating infrastructure and recurring expenditure for a time period of five years till 2020-21.
