Dr Ajay Mathur is the Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which is one of its kind multilateral organisation established to catalyse global solar growth. Prior to joining ISA, Dr Mathur was Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and a member of the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Climate Change. He was co-chair of the global Energy Transitions Commission and the Clean Cooling Initiatives of the One Planet Summit. He earlier headed the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency and was responsible for its foundational programmes, which mainstreamed energy efficiency through initiatives such as the Star Labeling program for appliances, the Energy Conservation Building Code, and the Perform, Achieve & Trade program for energy-intensive industries. He was a leading climate change negotiator and was the Indian spokesperson at the Paris climate negotiations. He served as the interim Director of the Green Climate Fund during its foundational period.

Dr Mathur was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Merite by the President of France in recognition of his outstanding commitment to preserving the environment and coping with energy-related challenges.

Dr Mathur received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the (then) University of Roorkee and a Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois. He has also received the Distinguished Alumnus Awards from both his alma maters.

An Indian Administrative Service officer of the Karnataka Cadre,Upendra Tripathy served as the first Director General of the ISA from 2017 - 2021. He helped in translating the concept of the ISA into a go-to global organisation on solar energy. During his tenure Mr Tripathy worked towards building a strong governance structure, increasing and universalising the membership, and implementing concrete programmes to scale up solar energy across the ISA member countries.

Prior to this, he served as the Secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from 2014 to 2016. During his tenure, the Indian government announced the ambitious target of setting up 175 GW of renewable energy projects by 2022 and he negotiated the framework agreement of the ISA. Prior to this he has also headed the Solar Energy Corporation of India, National Institute of Solar Energy, National Institute of Wind Energy, National Institute of Bio Energy, and Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States.

He has received many accolades including the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for his work in transforming the Bangalore city transport undertaking into a profit-making organisation. Mr Tripathy has a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Carleton University, Canada.