Prime Minister Gaston Browne signing the agreement.
ST. JOHNS, Antigua--The Government of Antigua and Barbuda joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by signing the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement (ISA FA) on January 4, 2022, in St. John’s, Antigua. Prime Minister (PM) Gaston Browne signed the ISA FA on behalf of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in the presence of High Commissioner of India Dr. K.J. Srinivasa, who is currently on a visit to Antigua and Barbuda.
The ISA was set up jointly by India and France on the sidelines of the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy needs and to provide a platform for collaboration to address the identified gaps through a common and agreed approach.
The ISA was launched at 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21) on November 30, 2015, by the PM of India Narendra Modi and then-French President Francois Hollande. Then-Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Ban Ki Moon also graced the occasion.
The Paris Declaration establishing the ISA states that the countries share the collective ambition to undertake innovative and concerted efforts for reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment of solar generation assets.
This will help pave the way for future solar generation, storage and good technologies for each prospective member countries’ individual needs by mobilising over US one trillion dollars in solar investments by 2030. Achieving these objectives of the ISA will also help countries achieve climate targets inscribed in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). ISA aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
The ISA has been steadily building its organisation and establishing linkages with 101 countries having signed the ISA FA of which 80 countries have submitted the necessary instruments of ratification to become full members of the ISA.
The ISA General Assembly, in its first meeting held from October 2 to 5, 2018, in New Delhi, attended by 78 countries, adopted the proposal made by India for an amendment to the FA on the establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to expand the scope of membership of the ISA to all countries that are members of the United Nations.
Consequently, membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was opened to all member countries of the UN and the Government of India encouraged all countries to sign the ISA FA before the Second General Assembly of ISA held on October 31, 2019.
Subsequently, a joint invitation from the minister of power and new & renewable energy of India and minister for ecological and inclusive transition of France was extended to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to the Second ISA General Assembly.
The Second Assembly took place to build upon the momentum generated during the Founding Conference of ISA held on March 11, 2018, in New Delhi and further bolstered by the First Assembly of ISA held during October 2 to 5, 2018.
Considering the importance of the Second General Assembly meeting of the ISA, to facilitate participation, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy of India extended hospitality for covering the expenses for two-person delegations – minister and a plus one – from least developed countries (LDC) and/or small island developing states (SIDS) member and signatory countries of the ISA as categorised by the Committee for Development under the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has also been invited for the subsequent ISA meetings and events.
At the recently held COP26 summit in Glasgow, the ISA joined hands with Denmark Green Think Tank CONCITO @concitoinfo, Investment Fund for Developing Countries #IFU & World Climate Foundation @wclimate in its quest to mobilise US one 1 trillion for investment in solar by 2030, to achieve clean energy #ET, enable energy access and energy security, and to deliver new economic driver for all countries. Earlier, during the meeting of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi with the Caribbean Community CARICOM leaders (India-CARICOM Summit) on September 25, 2019, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, had announced an offer of assistance of US$ 150 million Line of Credit – US$ 10 million per CARICOM member state – for CARICOM countries for solar energy and climate change related projects.
The High Commission of India is working closely with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to finalise proposals for availing this assistance in solar energy sector. ~ Antigua News Room ~
