India and France have announced that they will be leading the Solar Alliance, and international effort to increase renewable energy in 120 countries that are rich in solar.
The Global Solar Alliance is being co-chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of France Francois Hollande.
It is a joint platform for project leaders from countries such as Ethiopia, Braxil, Fiji, Indonesia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Peru, the Netherlands and UAE to boost investment and innovation in solar power.
This global solar alliance will aim to make solar power, which is a integral source of green power, a focus point in people’s lives.
PM Modi told the press that as fossil fuels continue to harm the planet, the hopes for prosperity in the future within this developing world now rely on bold initiatives.
“Solar technology is evolving, costs are coming down and grid connectivity is improving. The dream of universal access to clean energy is becoming more real. This will be the foundation of the new economy of the new century,” he said.
Executive Director of the Climate Group Krishnan Pallassana praised PM Modi.
“We are delighted that Prime Minister Modi is helping to launch the global solar alliance today, which reflects a collective large-scale commitment to bolstering renewable energy. In India, and across the world, there is a golden opportunity for the private sector to take advantage and move toward a prosperous low carbon future by demanding as well as investing in clean energy,” he said.
India has demonstrated a strong commitment to renewables, with fossil fuel subsidies being cut, coal usage taxed and by 2022 they plan to have an extra 175 GW capacity of renewables.
They have also pledged that the country will draw 40 per cent of their electricity from clean energy by 2030.
PM Modi describes the Global Solar Alliance as “the sunrise of new hope,”
“Not just for clean energy but for villages and homes still in darkness, for mornings and evening filled with a clear view of the glory of the sun,” he said.
President Hollande described the alliance as climate justice in action in the Paris press conference.
“What we are putting in place is an avant garde of countries that believe in renewable energies. What we are showing here is an illustration of the future Paris accord, as this initiative gives meaning to sharing technology and mobilising financial resources in an example of what we wish to do in the course of the climate conference,” he said.
$30 million is being invested by the Indian government in order to set up the headquarters for the alliance in India.
A total of $400 million is hoped to be raised via membership fees and international agencies.
During the solar alliance, PM Modi stated the governments will be collaborating their knowledge, research, innovation and best practices in addition to talking about regulatory issues.
This will be done with the communal goal in mind of increasing solar investment, initiate joint projects and create innovative financing.
According to the International Agency for Solar Technologies, “the alliance will pave the way for production technologies and storage of solar energy, adapted to the specific needs of our country,”.
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