The International Solar Alliance (ISA) will host the Seventh Regional Committee Meeting (RCM) for the Latin America & the Caribbean Region (LAC) from 4-6 August 2025, in Santiago, Chile. The meeting will bring together representatives from ISA Member Countries, institutional partners, think tanks, private sector leaders, and youth innovators to co-create solutions for expanding access to clean energy in the region. With the theme “Harnessing Solar Power for Resilience, Growth, and Unity in the Region,” the upcoming RCM aims to elevate the power of solar energy as a strategic lever for economic resilience, energy security, and regional cooperation.
Emphasising the strategic importance of the upcoming meeting and the region’s role in the global clean energy transition, Mr Ashish Khanna, Director General, ISA, stated: “The Seventh Regional Committee Meeting in Santiago marks a significant moment for accelerating solar energy deployment across the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. With its abundant solar and hydro resources, vast reserves of critical minerals and rare earth elements vital to clean energy technologies, the LAC region is key to achieving the global 1.5°C pathway. India’s success in meeting its target of 50% installed energy capacity from renewables ahead of the 2030 deadline stands as a powerful example of what can be achieved through long-term vision and strategic action. ISA seeks to bring this same spirit of action-oriented pathways of catalysing private finance, digitization of utilities and strengthening capabilities for jobs and innovation in the LAC region.”
“The meeting will spotlight the importance of platforms adopted to context for the LAC region, be it the youth innovation led Solar-X that would announce 15 winners of transformative ideas within LAC region by COP 30, or for SIDS platform for aggregate procurement for Caribbean island countries, or for developing region’s potential in green hydrogen, energy storage and minerals.” he said.
The RCM, chaired by Grenada, the Vice President from the region, will serve as a platform to align regional solar priorities with ISA’s evolving strategic vision, anchored in its four foundational pillars:
· Catalytic Finance Hub: Expanding catalytic and blended finance initiatives to de-risk solar investments, building on ISA’s experiences in Africa, efforts are underway to expand catalytic and blended finance initiatives to de-risk solar investments and develop a similar facility for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
· Global Capability Centre and Digitisation: Progressing ISA’s vision of making a Global Capability Centre the ‘Silicon Valley for Solar’ through a hub-and-spoke model that connects STAR Centres, fosters innovation via the SolarX Startup Challenge, and provides tailored technical assistance across Member Countries.
· Regional and Country-Level Platforms: Expanding initiatives like the SIDS platform for e-tendering and e-procurement to aggregate regional demand and open wider market access, complemented by the Country Partnership Framework, which enables ISA to work more intensively and strategically with select Member Countries.
● Technology Roadmaps and Policy Ecosystems: As part of ISA’s strategic pillars, the RCM will provide opportunities to co-develop policy frameworks, support supply chain diversification, and explore ways to accelerate the energy transition through green hydrogen, energy storage, and AI-enabled solar deployment, as well as critical minerals.
The thematic sessions at the RCM will align discussions with the following goals:
● Strengthening Institutional Capacity and Innovation Ecosystems: The RCM will showcase ISA’s integrated approach to building institutional capabilities through initiatives like STAR-C and the proposed Global Capability Centre, along with the SolarX Startup Challenge that fosters grassroots innovation and youth entrepreneurship in solar technologies.
● Leveraging Regional Resources for the Energy Transition: The meeting will spotlight the role of the LAC region’s critical minerals, particularly lithium and rare earth elements, and the growing green hydrogen ecosystem as catalysts for advancing solar deployment and accelerating the global clean energy transition.
● Operationalising the SIDS Solar Platform: With a focus on energy access and resilience in Small Island Developing States, the RCM will drive discussions on structuring ISA’s SIDS Solar Platform to aggregate demand, streamline procurement, and deploy digital tools for scalable, regionally tailored solar energy solutions.
● Mobilising Digital Tools and Finance for Solar Scale-up: The RCM will examine the role of digitalisation and ISA’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund in de-risking solar investments, enabling smart infrastructure, and unlocking blended finance for solar projects—particularly in regions facing digital and financial access barriers.
This Seventh Regional Committee Meeting marks a significant milestone in shaping ISA’s engagement in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Led by Chile’s regional leadership and supported by the Embassy of India in Chile, alongside key partners such as OLADE and Brazil—the incoming COP30 Presidency—the meeting will foster dynamic cross-border collaboration across sectors and innovation networks. It aims to position solar PV as a cornerstone of the region’s renewable energy growth. It will serve as a strategic platform to chart a forward-looking roadmap aligned with the ISA Framework Agreement and global climate objectives. The discussions will focus on unlocking the region’s potential in solar innovation, scaling clean technologies, and strengthening public-private partnerships to drive tangible, on-ground impact.
