- At the UNGC Summit, 24 leading solar firms launched the Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA) to promote sustainability across the solar value chain.
- The GSSA outlines nine environmental, equity, and governance actions, aligning with UNGC principles and the SDGs.
At the United Nations Global Compact’s first Global Business Summit in Jakarta on Sunday, May 25, twenty-four of the world’s leading solar manufacturers, including JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Tongwei, LONGi, and GCL Group, launched the Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA).
The announcement on the summit’s main stage signalled a united move by core upstream suppliers to embed sustainability at every point in the solar value chain.
High-profile figures from government, industry and academia attended the launch. United Nations Global Compact Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Executive Sanda Ojiambo, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, Siddharth Chatterjee; Indonesian National Economic Council Chairman Luhut B. Pandjaitan; Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio; China Electricity Council President Xin Bao’an; Xiamen Airlines Chair Dong Zhao and GCL Founder Dong Zhao were present.
The solar sector now anchors the global shift to clean energy, yet rapid growth has exposed social and environmental gaps. By creating the GSSA, industry leaders intend to close those gaps and speed progress towards carbon-neutral goals.
The alliance commits its members to green mineral sourcing, ecosystem protection, fair labour, and inclusive growth, aligning each pledge with the UN Global Compact Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Furthermore, the charter lays out nine concrete actions under three pillars. Under the Just Transition pillar, companies will cut pollution, conserve resources, adopt circular economy practices, set science-based climate targets, and protect biodiversity, including zero deforestation and green mining at source.
The People-Centric Development pillar requires members to uphold workers’ rights, foster diverse and safe workplaces, embed human rights due diligence in procurement, boost supply-chain transparency and design solar projects that respect local communities while spurring regional growth.
Under Governance Enhancement, signatories will strengthen board oversight, protect minority shareholders, operate with full integrity, resist unfair competition and publish clear, regular sustainability data while holding open dialogues with stakeholders.
UNGC China Representative Meng Liu welcomed the move, praising photovoltaic firms, especially Chinese manufacturers, for driving the energy transition and linking environmental protection, human rights and robust governance in one programme.
JA Solar Vice-President and Chief Sustainability Officer Jing Li formally introduced the alliance. They unveiled the company’s “Together Towards Tomorrow” responsible-supply-chain strategy, designed to help every stakeholder along the chain adopt the same sustainability path.
The UNGC urged more solar businesses and their suppliers to sign on. Early co-signatories have promised to draft a detailed action roadmap with broad stakeholder input to ensure that each commitment yields measurable results.
Solar power already delivers affordable, reliable, clean energy to homes and industries worldwide, yet unresolved supply-chain risks still constrain its full promise.
The GSSA aims to remove those barriers. By pooling expertise and resources, members plan to accelerate the sector’s growth, unlock deeper emissions cuts and model responsible business for the economy.