Trump orders US withdrawal from International Solar Alliance
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New York: President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw from the Gurugram-headquartered International Solar Alliance (ISA), an organisation that promotes solar energy use to combat climate change.
The ISA was among 66 international entities from which the US pulled out on Wednesday, with the White House stating that these organisations acted “contrary to US national interests.” Trump, who has repeatedly referred to climate change as a “hoax,” targeted both UN and non-UN entities with climate and environmental mandates, including the ISA.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the decision was driven by “climate orthodoxy” that, in his view, threatened “our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”
Founded in 2015 by India and France, the ISA has 124 signatories, approximately 100 of which are full members. Its primary objective is to mobilise $1 trillion in investments for solar energy and to encourage the adoption of related technologies by 2030. The organisation is currently led by Director-General Ashish Khanna.
Between 2022 and 2025, the US contributed $2.1 million to the ISA, according to a US government database. The funds were allocated “to support the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership through ISA programmes to accelerate the deployment of solar in developing and emerging countries.”
The move is part of a broader US withdrawal from international bodies. Among the 31 UN-linked organisations targeted was the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change, the body through which the Paris Climate Agreement was reached. Other UN entities affected include those dealing with water, oceans, energy, and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
Additionally, 35 non-UN organisations were included, nine of which focus on climate change and environmental issues. Among them was the International Panel on Climate Change, which was headed by India’s Rajendra Pachauri when it received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
The US had initially committed to joining the ISA in 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House.
With IANS inputs