THE Government of Antigua and Barbuda has joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by signing the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement in St. John’s on Tuesday.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, signed the ISA Framework Agreement (FA) on behalf of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in the presence of Dr. K.J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India, who is currently on a visit to Antigua and Barbuda.

The International Solar Alliance was set up jointly by India and France on the sidelines of the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris in 2015.

According to a release, the International Solar Alliance (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 the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC CoP21) on November 30, 2015 by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and then French President, Francois Hollande.

Ban ki Moon, then Secretary General of the United Nations, 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.

The ISA General Assembly, in its first meeting held on October 2-5, 2018, in New Delhi, attended by 78 countries, adopted the proposal made by India for an amendment to the Framework Agreement on the Establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) (the Framework Agreement) to expand the scope of membership of the ISA to all countries that are members of the United Nations.

Consequently, the membership of the ISA was opened up to all member countries of the United Nations 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 the Minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition of France was extended to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to the Second ISA General Assembly, the release stated.

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 2-5, 2018.

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$1 Trillion for investment in solar power by 2030, to achieve clean energy, Energy Transition #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 CARICOM leaders (India-CARICOM Summit) on September 25, 2019 on the side-lines of the UNGA in New York, he 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, the release said.