Written by Gautam Mohanka, Managing Director of Gautam Solar
“Financing solar projects remains a important challenge for vulnerable economies” : Gautam Mohanka
The escalating severity of climate change has already claimed more than two million lives over the last five decades, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. Beyond human casualties, the crisis continues to disrupt livelihoods, weaken economies, and strain societies across the globe. Against this backdrop, India’s International Solar Alliance (ISA) is emerging as a beacon of hope,demonstrating how renewable energy, particularly solar power, can drive a collective shift towards a low-carbon future.
Championing a South-Led Model: Launched in 2015 at COP21 by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President François Hollande, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) now includes all members of the UN. The ISA focuses on mobilising finance, reducing the costs of solar energy, and developing learning platforms, bringing developing and island nations together under a south-led initiative. The ISA methodology bridges both financial and technology divides, promoting engagement on the part of the public and private actors, promoting clean energies’ adoption.
Democratising Solar Power in Challenging Markets: Financing solar projects remains a important challenge for vulnerable economies with poor infrastructure, weak production bases, and low rates of literacy. In countries such as Mali, Zambia, and Bangladesh, ISA has come in and provided financial solutions that attempt to de-risk an investment and help lower the cost of solar technology.
Projects launched with ISA have contributed to a halving of the global price of solar pumps, making clean energy technologies more broadly available. ISA’s flagship project the Global Solar Facility (GSF) aims to spur private investments by offering payment guarantees and insurance mechanisms.
Ultimately, ISA’s programming is resulting in solar projects being more bankable and more profitable which had a positive impact on attracting global lenders and investors. For example, countries such as Mali, Togo, and Benin leveraged ISA support to secure $1.5 billion worth of funding, while in India, ISA projects had a staggering 91% increase in solar capacity between 2019 and 2022.
Building Collective Global Infrastructure: Beyond financing, ISA has also spearhead and invested in very high profile projects such as GGI-OSOWOG (Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid), which connects over 140 countries in a renewable energy global network.
For a project of this multi-layered complexity that connects solar and wind projects across countries, the aim has been to optimise resources, enhance energy security and provide no means of geopolitical cooperation between these nations. Such opportunities illustrate ISA’s vision of an interconnected energy future and create sustainable and shared accountability.
Creating Global Capacity Through Knowledge Sharing and Policy Frameworks: ISA’s new innovations will not be effective, unless individuals are equipped with the right skills. To date, ISA has trained over 45,000 people across a range of workshops, webinars and seminars and made accessible resources such as handbooks and e-learning resources. In aligning decision making with knowledge and technical capacity to those who are defining its success, the ISA alliance can ensure that ‘capacity building’ becomes part of its engagement strategy and mission towards sustainable development and growth.
The road to innovation opens when solar projects become financially viable. ISA has coordinated standards and policy frameworks that have created and enhanced certainty in the solar sector. Lessening the perception of risk and driving innovation with both public and private sectors. By dissolving barriers between sectors, ISA has created energy ecosystem and collaborated toward inclusivity and resilience to the sectors.
Furthermore, with over 120 signatories, the International Solar Alliance has emerged as a defining voice of the global South. India’s leadership in founding and steering ISA underlines its commitment to shaping climate action, not just domestically but globally. By uniting governments, business and communities, ISA signifies a collaborative approach for resilience against climate extremes while reducing fossil fuel dependency.
In gist, with the world suffering increasingly destructive natural disasters, ISA’s strength is in its diversity and inclusion. By bringing together public and private stakeholders, wealthy and impoverished nations, men and women, India’s International Solar Alliance is doing more than promoting solar energy, it is creating a new pathway for future climate leadership in the world.
