Japan Govt inks pact with International Solar Alliance to work together in renewable energy 

NEW DELHI: The Government of Japan, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), and International Solar Alliance (ISA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Solar Energy Field in Gurugram on May 21.

KAWAZU Kunihiko, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of Japan to India, Deputy Chief of Mission, Minister, Embassy of Japan (on behalf of the Government of Japan), KURIHARA Toshihiko, Chief Representative, JBIC New Delhi Representative Office, SAITO Mitsunori, Chief Representative, JICA India Office, KAKU Yoshio, Chief Representative, NEDO New Delhi Office, and Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, International Solar Alliance (ISA) signed the documents for their respective sides.

The objective of this Memorandum is to establish a framework for a cooperative institutional relationship to encourage and promote concrete multilateral cooperation among the Government of Japan, JBIC, JICA, NEDO and ISA in the field of renewable energy.

This Memorandum defines possible areas and activities of cooperation among the participants. In particular, it stipulates for a regular policy dialogues among the participants to identify priority areas for each organization, which is hoped to lead to the realization of a more coordinated response.

The Cooperation under this MOC includes solar technologies and associated technologies as a means of promoting renewable energy; energy efficiency, energy saving and energy storage technologies;

technological innovations in the solar energy industry and promotion of cleantech ecosystem in the member countries of ISA; and other areas as may be decided upon by the Participants.

Since the participation in the ISA in 2018, the Government of Japan has been looking for ways in which it can become a more useful partner to ISA. This is because the ISA’s mission is consistent with the policy of the Government of Japan in the field of climate change.

The Government of Japan, together with JBIC, JICA, and NEDO, hopes that cooperation with ISA through this Memorandum will bring about positive outcomes in addressing the issue of climate change.

The initiative launched by the Government of India together with the Government of France during the 21st Conference of the Parties at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in November 2015. The objective was to develop a platform for cooperation among countries rich in solar-derived resources, aiming at the rapid and significant expansion of the scale of solar energy consumption in the international community.

“The Framework Agreement on the Establishment of International Solar Alliance (ISA)” has been signed by 106 countries including Japan as of May 21 this year, out of which 86 countries have ratified it. The secretariat is located in Haryana, India.