Modi and Macron invite Sirisena to Solar Alliance Conference

Saturday, 24 February 2018 00:11 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka signed framework agreement in Jan.
Over 500 delegates from 54 countries expected to attend
Aims to mobilise $1 trillion in funds by 2030 to develop solar energy

President Maithripala Sirisena with Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu and French Ambassador Jean-Marin Schuh

On the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, President Maithripala Sirisena is set to attend the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Founding Conference and Solar Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 11 March 2018.

The invitation to participate in the Conference, signed by Premier Modi and President Macron, was delivered to Sirisena jointly by Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu and French Ambassador Jean-Marin Schuh. Sri Lanka signed the Framework Agreement on the ISA on 31 January 2018 in New Delhi. The ratification process was also completed soon thereafter. Sri Lanka has now become a full-fledged member of the ISA. To date, 54 countries have signed/ratified the ISA.

Around 500 delegates from all over the world are expected to participate in the Conference, including around 30 Heads of State/Heads of Government.

Modi...

President Sirisena attended the launch of the ISA at the COP-21 in Paris on 30 November 2015, when it was launched by Prime Minister Modi and the then President of France Francois Hollande.

The ISA is conceived as a coalition of 121 solar resource rich countries (lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn) to address their energy needs, through a common platform for collaboration, for achieving speed, scale and skills for deploying available solar technologies, facilitating strategic and collaborative solar R&D, and lowering the cost of finance for solar projects and capacity building.

The ISA aims to mobilise more than $1000 billion of investments needed by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy. The ISA is committed to contribute significantly towards the global efforts for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The ISA is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, close to New Delhi.