8th International Solar Alliance Conference began in New Delhi

The 8th session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly began at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from 27–30 October 2025. The International Solar Alliance is a global initiative launched by India and France in Paris at COP21 in 2015.

• The 8th session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly began at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from 27–30 October 2025. 124 countries will participate in this 4-day event and more than 40 ministers from around the world will attend the session.
• The 8th session of the ISA Assembly will focus on four strategic pillars: Catalytic Finance Hub; Global Capacity Centre and Digitalization; Regional and Country-level Engagement; and Technology Roadmap and Policy.
• In this conference, key ISA reports—Ease of Doing Solar 2025 and Solar Trends 2025—will also be released, which outline global progress and pathways for expanding solar deployment.
• Before this conference, ISA organized regional committee meetings in its four regions: Europe and Others in Brussels (10–12 June), Asia-Pacific in Colombo (15–17 July), Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago (4–6 August), and Africa in Accra (2–4 September).
• In these meetings, which were attended by representatives from more than 100 countries, progress was reviewed, challenges were addressed, and regional initiatives were aligned with ISA’s global priorities.

About International Solar Alliance

• The International Solar Alliance is a global initiative launched by India and France in Paris at COP21 in 2015. It has 124 member and signatory countries.
• ISA’s mission is to promote investment in solar energy by 2030 while reducing the cost of this technology and its financing.
• On 6 December 2017, 15 countries signed and ratified the ISA Framework Agreement, making ISA the first international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India.
• Its headquarters is in Gurugram, Haryana, India. It is the first international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India.

16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) in Geneva, Switzerland

• The 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16), held from 20 to 23 October in Geneva, Switzerland, concluded with the adoption of the Geneva Consensus and a political declaration.
• This conference was held in a complex global context, as the agreed document highlighted the backdrop of slow economic growth and persistent inequalities within and between countries.
• Economies, especially the most vulnerable ones, are facing increasing challenges, including growing trade difficulties, limited fiscal space, low investment levels, unsustainable debt burdens, digital divides, and weak productive capacities. Nevertheless, the 195 member countries of UNCTAD demonstrated renewed unity and purpose.
• Based on the theme “Shaping the Future: Accelerating Economic Transformation for Just, Inclusive, and Sustainable Development,” UNCTAD16 renewed multilateral efforts to bring development back to the center of the global economic debate.
• Meetings of the Ministers of the G-77 and China, Africa, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States, and Landlocked Developing Countries were also held.
• UNCTAD16 saw all 195 member countries sign an agreement called the “Geneva Consensus for a Just and Sustainable Economic Order.”