One Planet Summit- France Announces 500 million Euros for ISA

France, which along with India is a founding member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), has just made a Euro 500 million further commitment for the body, to help push the case for renewables faster.

The announcement was made by the French President Emmanuel Macron at the One Planet Summit (OPS), showing his willingness to tough out resistance to an increasing focus on renewables over fossil fuels back home too. The OPS is bringing together leaders from government and the private sector, entrepreneurs, donors, international organizations and other global stakeholders. Building on previous One Planet events (Paris, December 2017 and New York, September 2018), this third event will also highlight Africa’s climate leadership, with a particular focus on renewable energy, protecting biodiversity, and boosting adaptation and resilience.

The event held on March 14 was timed to work with the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.

For the ISA, which has already added on 121 members, with over 50 having ratified the agreement, the funding announcement should be a welcome one, as it gets down to the business end of its mandate to make renewables more accessible and widely used.
The French move will also send a signal to Macron’s detractors at home and abroad, who haven’t warmed up to his stand on climate change.

The ISA’s earliest moves have been in the area of solar pumps for farming, where it has initiated a process for global tender for 500,000 plus solar pumps already. It hopes to use the purchasing power of its many members to drive down prices, push for innovation by offering volumes and open up markets.