An India-led coalition to harness solar energy will eventually replace the OPEC oil cartel, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he opened the International Solar Alliance’s (ISA) first assembly with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The role of the oil wells today will be that of the sun’s rays tomorrow,” Narendra Modi said at the meeting in New Delhi.
“In the coming years, when the world discusses initiatives for the welfare of humanity in the 21st century, ISA’s name will be at the top. We have prepared everyone to ensure climate justice through this ISA forum,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
OPEC pumps about one-third of the world’s oil and over decades has been able to influence the global energy market by controlling the price of crude.
The ISA, launched by Modi and then-French president Francois Hollande in 2015 and based in India, is an alliance of countries mostly between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that receive plentiful sunshine.
It aims to reduce the costs of financing solar power and related technology, and to mobilize more than a trillion US dollars to build solar facilities and infrastructure by 2030.
“The International Solar Alliance represents exactly what needs to be done and represents the future,” Guterres said.
“We know what we need to do, and by large, we have the tools to do it. What we still lack, fortunately not here in this room ... is the political commitment to make the transformative decisions that will lead us onto a safer path,” he said.
India’s population of 1.3 billion is considered particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The ISA’s first assembly, involving member countries, banks, development funds, the corporate sector and civil society groups, runs through tomorrow.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS