The International Solar Association (ISA), a 109-nation group to promote solar energy, will hold its next (6th) General Assembly in New Delhi on October 31, ISA Director General Dr Ajay Mathur said today.

During a webinar on G20 to COP28: What's trending for India organized by Climate Trends, a Delhi-based climate advocacy firm, Dr. Mathur said the solar sector will receive $380 billion in investment and loans this year. , but 74 percent of that would go to OECD (developed) countries and China. Only "three percent or less" would go to Africa, which needs the most solar energy, he said.

Responding to a question from his host, Director Climate Trends, Aarti Khosla, about what will be discussed at the ISA meeting, Dr. Mathur mentioned that securing funding for Africa and other developing countries is one of the main agenda items for the ISA -meeting


Get exclusive stock market live streaming. He stated that loans to Africa's solar sector were safe, with loan default rates below 2 percent. Although repayments can be delayed, most loans are repaid. That's why it's about giving confidence to the financiers, and the way to do that is that the global funds can guarantee the loan.

Dr Mathur noted that the United Arab Emirates, which is chairing the COP28 climate talks in Dubai in December, had pledged $4.5 billion to Africa, saying: “It would be great if some of the funds were used to secure loans ."

On the Indian stage, Dr Mathur pointed out that the prices of stored renewable energy have already fallen below the cost of new coal plants and said that clean economics will ensure that most of the electricity capacity built in the coming years will be renewable .

Ajay Shankar, distinguished fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and former secretary of the Indian government's department of industrial policy and promotion, argued in a webinar that India is better positioned than China to reduce industrial carbon emissions. build significant manufacturing capacity, which means India can immediately build a low-carbon manufacturing plant. "We should (therefore) welcome the European carbon regulatory mechanism," he said, adding that India can easily reduce carbon dioxide emissions from "difficult to control" industries (such as steel) at the same pace as industrialized nations.

Both Mathur and Shankar said carbon capture, use and sequestration (CCUS) initiatives have been limited and play only a marginal role in climate action.