His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, led a UAE delegation on an official visit to India to attend the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Co-hosted by India and France, the ISA First Assembly emphasized the importance of deploying solar energy solutions globally to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In his address at the event, His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi highlighted India’s important role in forging new alliances to accelerate international deployment of solar energy. He also praised the efforts made by France in recent years to mobilize global endeavors to address the issue of climate change, and its integral role in signing the historic Paris Agreement.
His Excellency Al Zeyoudi said: “The UAE has a decade-long history in the field of renewable energy that dates back to the establishment of Masdar, our flagship renewable energy company, in 2006. Subsequently, in 2009, the country became the host of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the first international organization dedicated to promoting renewable energy that plays a significant role in facilitating renewable energy deployment around the world.”
He added: “We made the decision to invest in renewables because we believe that transitioning to renewable energy brings a wealth of benefits, including enhanced energy security, new industry development, job creation and improved health due to reduced emissions. Today, technological advancements and public-private partnerships have greatly contributed to driving costs down, making renewables among the most viable and cost-effective energy options available. Solar energy is particularly attractive to the UAE, given the abundant land and solar resources in the country.”
On the sidelines of the ISA First Assembly, His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi attended multiple bilateral meetings. He explored further opportunities for collaboration in the power sector with His Excellency Raj Kumar Singh, India’s Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy. He also met with His Excellency Upendra Tripathy and congratulated him for his appointment as the first Director General of ISA, wishing him success in promoting solar energy across the globe.
ISA was established by the Paris Declaration at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris, where it was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President François Hollande. To date, 24 countries have ratified the ISA Framework Agreement, and 44 countries have signed the document.
The UAE is one of the founding members of the alliance, with membership officially approved in February 2018. ISA hosted the International Solar Alliance Forum in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit 2018.
The alliance aims to help developing countries harness 1,000 GW of solar power by 2030 through raising funds worth US$1 trillion and providing the required technical support.