'Green energy diplomacy': India applies for observer status for International Solar Alliance at UN

New Delhi: India introduced a draft resolution to grant observer status to the International Solar Alliance in the UN General Assembly. The move to grant such a status to the Alliance, which was jointly launched by India and France in 2015, would pave the way for greater international cooperation regarding green energy said India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti on Friday.

"The International Solar Alliance through its efforts to bring about just and equitable energy solutions through the deployment of solar energy is expected to usher in a new era of green energy diplomacy," Ambassador Tirumurti said in the General Assembly as he introduced the draft resolution in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly that deals with legal questions.

The International Solar Alliance or ISA was jointly launched by India and France in 2015 at the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris.

The draft resolution had 80 co-sponsors including Japan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives and Australia. Granting observer status would allow the ISA to give input to the future actions of the UN-based on grass-roots information collected from its own initiatives as well as access to research and knowledge-sharing centres.

The International Solar Association had made valuable inputs to the UN's own Framework Conventions on Climate Change and was also making strides in deploying solar energy initiatives across different sectors like health and agriculture, said Trimurthi. in turn, the ISA would benefit from the UN's own wide networks and resources.