The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has granted Observer Status to the International Solar Alliance, an initiative by India. The news was announced by India’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, T S Tirumurti on December 9. He also termed it as a historic decision and said that the International Solar Alliance has become an example of positive global climate action through partnerships benefitting global energy growth and development.
The 76th President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, in a separate media post, informed that the UN General Assembly based on the 6th Committee Report unanimously decided to invite the International Solar Alliance to participate in the sessions and work of the UNGA in the capacity of an ‘Observer.’
The 4th General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance was held in October 2021 in which a total of 108 countries around the world participated. It included the 74 member countries, 34 Observer and Prospective countries, 33 Special invitee organizations, and 23 Partner Organizations.
The launch of the International Solar Alliance was announced back in 2015 by Prime Minister Modi and the former President of France Francois Hollande at the 21st Session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties in France.
ISA’s mission is for a rapid increase in solar energy usage so that the countries can achieve an ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emission by the middle of the century, in a bid for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C.
With an aim of accelerating the global adoption of solar energy, the USA joined the ISA as a member country in November 2021. With this, the US became the 101st country to sign the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance.
Other countries that have recently joined the International Solar Alliance are Greece, Israel, and Sweden.
