Washington: The US today welcomed the recent India-led ISA initiative which is aimed at expanding the use and development of solar energy all over the world.
“There is an initiative led by India and announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which we welcome and joined into, in which we joined a hundred other countries in a new International Solar Alliance (ISA) in order to expand the use and development of solar energy in every corner of the globe,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in Brussels.
Kerry said in the last few years, the US has hiked use of solar energy by 20 times and increased its use to wind energy by three times.
“And we continue to be committed to move down that path of transition,” he added.
Led by India, more than 100 countries joined the launch of the ISA in France on the sidelines of the Paris Summit on Climate Change.
Kerry said the COP-21 climate negotiations are critical.
They represent one of the great security challenges of the world as well as environmental challenges, as well as energy challenges, as well as health challenges, as well as moral obligations, he added.
These talks got off to an encouraging start, the top American diplomat said, but noted that they will be difficult.
“Over the past couple of days, the United States has announced a package of initiatives to complement an agreement and to continue demonstrating our commitment to working with our international partners, including the most vulnerable among us, in order to address the global threat of climate change,” he said.
The US announced a contribution of USD 51 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund, which is part of a nearly USD 250 million donation from 11 countries.
“We announced USD 30 million in contributions to the regional risk insurance funds. We joined 19 countries in committing to double our own clean energy R&D budget in the next five years. That will take us up to USD 10 billion of R&D. That’s a very, very significant effort,” Kerry said.