India is preparing to move its 121-nation International Solar Alliance from concept to action during French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit in December.
“The alliance was conceived by India in early 2015 to present solar-rich nations as an effective group to get financial and technological support from investors for the green form of energy,” the Times of India recalls. It was unveiled at the beginning of the 2015 UN climate summit in Paris by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-French president François Hollande.
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Now, “we need to accelerate the implementation of the ISA, so that we can bring concrete solutions to the people,” said France’s minister of state for ecological and inclusive transition, Brune Poirson, during a preparatory visit earlier this month. She said the minimum 15 countries required to officially bring the alliance to life would ratify the ISA framework agreement ahead of the December 9 summit.
“Though the ISA framework agreement was opened for signature during COP 22 at Marrakech, Morocco, on November 15 last year, only 39 of 121 countries have so far signed it, with only nine of them ratifying it,” the Times notes. Ratifications to date have come from India, France, Bangladesh, Fiji, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Seychelles, and Tuvalu.
