Observer Status to International Solar Alliance

In news– The International Solar Alliance(ISA) has been unanimously granted observer status (with resolution 76/123) by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) recently.

What is observer status in the UN?

Observer status is granted by a UNGA resolution.
Observers have the right to speak at UNGA meetings, but not to vote on resolutions.
The status of a permanent observer is based purely on practice of the General Assembly, and there are no provisions for it in the United Nations Charter.
The practice is to distinguish between state and non-state observers.
Non-member observer states are recognized as sovereign states, and are free to submit a petition to join as a full member at their discretion.

At present, the State of Palestine and Holy See have the observer states at the United Nations.

Also, the Holy See includes both the Vatican City and sovereign entities.
The granting of Observer Status to ISA in the General Assembly would help provide for regular and well-defined cooperation between the Alliance and the United Nations that would benefit global energy growth and development.

About ISA-

It is an alliance of more than 122 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, now extended to all members of the UN.
The alliance is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization.
The initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Africa Summit, and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris in November 2015.
It was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilise efforts against climate change through the deployment of solar energy solutions.
It was founded at Paris, France and is headquartered at Gurugram, Haryana.
Its major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US$ 1000 billion into solar energy by 2030.
Countries that do not fall within the Tropics can join the alliance and enjoy all benefits as other members, with the exception of voting rights.
After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states world-wide.
It provides a dedicated platform for cooperation among Governments, multilateral organisations, industry, and other stakeholders to help achieve a common goal.