The seventh session of the ISA Assembly in progress in New Delhi has elected India as President and France as co-president for a period of two years from 2024 to 2026. While India was the sole contender for the post of President, the Co-Presidency was contested between the Republic of France and Grenada.
The Assembly elects the president and co-president with due consideration to equitable geographical representation. The four regional groups of the ISA Members include Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe and Others; and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Eight vice presidents of the standing committee, two from each of the four ISA geographical regions, are selected based on seniority in terms of submitting the instrument of ratification to the depositary on a rotation basis from the ISA member countries in the specific region.
Ghana and Seychelles will hold office as vice presidents for the Africa region; Australia and Sri Lanka for Asia and the Pacific region; Germany and Italy for Europe and the others region; Grenada and Suriname from the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
The Seventh Session of the ISA Assembly, with ministers from 29 countries, is currently deliberating on the ISA’s key initiatives, focusing on three critical issues: energy access, energy security, and energy transition. These discussions aim to address and find solutions to these pressing global concerns.
The Assembly also selected Ashish Khanna from India as its third Director General. The other office candidates included Wisdom Ahiataku —Togobo from Ghana and Gosaye Mengistie Abayneh from Ethiopia.
The outgoing Director General, Dr Ajay Mathur, who has led the Alliance since 2021, will conclude his tenure on March 14, 2025. Under his leadership, the Alliance has achieved significant milestones, including a monumental rise in member and signatory countries to 103 and 17, respectively, the completion and launch of demonstration projects, and the successful identification of 50 start-ups with potential to dynamise their countries’ journey towards solar energy.
The Alliance’s accomplishments under Dr Mathur’s leadership include.
● The aggregation of 9.5 GW of project proposals, including a 360 MW solar PV bid in Cuba and 400 MW approval in Ethiopia. The preparation of feasibility studies for ground-mounted projects and solar rooftop detailed project reports in Comoros, Sao Tome & Principe, and Bangladesh. Pilot projects are advancing in Ethiopia, and assessments are ongoing in nine countries. Mini-grid assessments in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Guinea, as well as solar water pumping studies, were completed in ten countries.
● The STAR-C initiative, ISA’s capacity-building programme, has trained over 900 professionals through six centres, with ten new centres planned. Regulatory workshops in eight countries have trained over 265 policymakers.
● Among the innovative financial tools, ISA’s Global Solar Facility, launched at COP27, aims to unlock $50 million in commercial capital for underserved regions, with its first project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the SolarX Startup Challenge, launched at COP27, mentors 50 scalable solar solutions from Africa and Asia-Pacific, supporting the creation of a project pipeline.
The International Solar Alliance works with governments to improve energy access and security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable transition to a carbon-neutral future. It’s on a mission to unlock $1 trillion of investments in solar by 2030 while reducing the cost of the technology and its financing. It promotes the use of solar energy in the agriculture, health, transport, and power generation sectors.
ISA is partnering with multilateral development banks, development financial institutions, private and public sector organisations, civil society, and other international institutions to deploy cost-effective and transformational solutions through solar energy, especially in the least developed countries and the small island developing states.
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