New Delhi: One of the major themes of India’s G20 presidency is the advancement of an ambitious green transition for the 21st century. If the world’s hopes of accelerating a clean, sustainable, just, affordable, and inclusive energy transition are to come to fruition, however, ensuring the spread of solar power—especially to the poorest parts of the globe—will be essential. A key actor charged with expanding solar access is the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a relatively new international consortium of nearly 120 countries based in Gurugram. ISA’s director-general Dr Ajay Mathur was the featured guest on last week’s episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to talk about the green energy elements of the G20.

Mathur was formerly the director general of The Energy and Resources Institute and the director general of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency. On the program, he spoke with host Milan Vaishnav about the explosive growth in solar power and what that means for India—and the world. Mathur explained that ISA was announced in 2015 and initially focused on developing countries located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. In the intervening years, however, ISA decided to open its ranks to all United Nations members.

Asked about his remit, Mathur explained that ISA “works on making solar energy the ‘energy source of choice’ in our countries.” ISA’s core activities include furthering advocacy about the benefits of solar energy, convincing the political and policy leadership in countries around the world that solar makes sense, and publishing rigorous studies on solar technology, markets, and investments so countries can learn “what is the best now, not what is the best yesterday,” Mathur stated.

Above all, Mathur emphasised, ISA focuses on capacity-building. “You need to be sure there are certified technicians in countries which are going to start solar projects. You need to make sure that policymakers are trained. You need to make sure that bankers, who are going to lend money, know how to evaluate and to risk-assess solar projects,” said Mathur. He explained that ISA “hand holds” countries with their first few solar projects to show them how best to create a flourishing solar ecosystem.

At the G20 summit in Delhi, leaders endorsed India’s idea of establishing a “Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre” that will be steered by ISA. Mathur said this will be crucial to meeting the world’s non-electric energy needs in the future. To meet our non-electric needs, “the only zero-carbon option is green hydrogen. This is the only way we can completely move to a completely green energy future,” he said. To get there, Mathur said the new green hydrogen center will focus on addressing manufacturing gaps, capacity building, and matchmaking between donors and recipient countries.