Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, during a plenary session at COP30 of the United Nations Climate Summit on Monday, November 17, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. | Photo credit: AP
Calling for a coordinated global effort to enhance energy security for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav highlighted solar energy as a tool for “transformation and social revolution”.
Addressing the high-level ministerial meeting of the SIDS platform of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on Wednesday, Mr Yadav highlighted India’s support to island nations through the ISA and pointed to the country’s rapid development in clean energy.
SIDS faces “unique vulnerability due to its dependence on imported fossil fuels, climate-related disruption and fragile infrastructure”, Mr Yadav said, stressing that collective action is necessary to scale up affordable, clean and resilient energy systems.
The ISA SIDS platform aims to create a digital and financial ecosystem to facilitate access to solar technologies through standardized procurement, blended finance and local capacity building.
Held here on the sidelines of UNFCCC COP30, the meeting brought together ministers and senior officials of SIDS and ISA member countries.
Highlighting India’s support to island nations through the ISA, Mr. Yadav detailed the country’s rapid development in clean energy, saying, “Today, India has crossed 500 gigawatts of installed electricity capacity, and more than half of that is clean energy. India has already achieved 50% non-fossil energy capacity, five years ahead of its NDC target.”
Mr Yadav called India the world’s fourth-largest producer of renewable energy and third in solar, and attributed the progress to “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and his belief in the scale, speed and power of ordinary people”.
The Minister shared examples from India’s ‘PM Surya Ghar Rooftop Solar Programme’ and highlighted India’s push for solar energy in remote regions through the PM-JANMAN scheme and the country’s investments in large capacity storage.
More than 20 million households have adopted rooftop solar, which Mr Yadav described as “freedom for every household” and “a mini power plant on every roof”. Indian farmers are “working with the sun and sleeping in peace” as solar pumps and feeders replace diesel, reducing costs and increasing reliability, he said.
Mr Yadav went on to describe how India is building some of the world’s largest integrated solar and battery projects, including one in Ladakh designed to store enough clean energy “to light up an entire city”. Such models can help SIDS reduce diesel imports and strengthen climate resilience, the minister added.
Mr. Yadav reiterated India’s commitment to the ISA, noting that more than 124 countries are now members of the alliance. “Think of ISA as a global solar family from the islands of the Pacific to the savannahs of Africa to the mountains of South America,” he said, adding that the alliance accelerates design, mobilizes finance and creates local jobs.
“Solar energy spreads its light in more than technological ways. It is hope and empowerment. It is independence. It is dignity. It is peace,” he said, calling for joint global action.
Island country representatives welcomed India’s progress in the solar sector and supported the ISA SIDS platform to unlock the potential of renewable energy sources, enhance workforce skills, de-finance and build resilient energy systems that are critical for both climate and socio-economic development.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande on November 30, 2015 on the sidelines of COP21 in Paris, the ISA aims to mobilize more than $1 trillion in investment needed by 2030 for massive solar deployment to expand solar power while reducing technology and financing costs.
Published – 20 Nov 2025 21:01 IST
