General Assembly of International Solar Alliance to be held in Delhi

The inaugural General Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) will be inaugurated on 2 October 2018 in New Delhi.

• It will be followed by a ministerial level assembly of ISA the following day which will be held in Greater Noida.

About the International Solar Alliance (ISA):

• ISA was jointly launched by India and France in November 2015 in Paris on the side lines of COP21 UN Climate Change Conference.
• Its Framework Agreement came into force in December 2017.
• It celebrated its founding day on 11th March, 2018.
• Its founding conference was held on 11 March 2018 in New Delhi.
• ISA is an action-oriented organization that aims brings together countries with rich solar potential to aggregate global demand, thereby reducing prices through bulk purchase, facilitating deployment of existing solar technologies at scale and promoting collaborative solar R&D and capacity building.
• It also aims at contributing to implementation of Paris Climate Agreement 2015 through the rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
• ISA is the first international intergovernmental treaty based organization to be headquartered in India.
• It is headquartered at the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Harayana.
• Till date, 47 countries have signed and 19 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of ISA.
• United Nations is the Strategic Partner of ISA.

Objectives of ISA:

• Undertake joint efforts required to reduce the cost of finance and the cost of technology.
• Mobilize around US $1000 billion of investments needed by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy.
• Pave way for future technologies adapted to needs of solar rich 121 countries lying fully or partially between Tropic of Cancer and Capricon.

ISA's 4 ongoing programmes:

• Scaling Solar Mini Grids
• Affordable Finance at Scale
• Scaling Solar Applications for Agricultural Use
• Scaling Solar Rooftop catering to the needs of solar energy in specific areas

Question:

Q. Where will the inaugural General Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) be inaugurated on 2 October 2018?
a. Tokyo
b. New York
c. Sydney
d. New Delhi