The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2017 35 coal or nuclear power plant). It has mounted solar panels on more than 700 rooftops in India. Similarly, an American startup company furnishing off-grid electricity to rural villages was one of the early recipients of PACE financing, and now supplies some 200,000 people in 300 villages with electricity, where they previously had none. The ambitious scope of PACE has unleashed a wide range of parallel and follow-on initiatives, involving government at all lev- els, international financial institutions, NGOs, labs, universities and businesses. So it is understandable that political support for PACE remains strong in India, even following its change of gov- ernment in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who previously served as chief minister of Gujarat, a state that is one of India’s most advanced solar power producers, recently announced he would increase his country’s renewable energy target to 175 giga- watts by 2022, 100 gigawatts of it solar. While always aspiring to something broader, the PACE diplomatic initiative helped realize a vision of two countries together creating a vibrant, growing and sustainable clean energy economy. Much remains to be done, both in India and in many other parts of the world, but it is fair to say PACE has gotten off to a good start and has a truly bright future. n A farm in Tamil Nadu uses solar power to run its water pumps and lights. WIKIMEDIACOMMONS/PWRDF