A democratic energy transition in Tunisia
It may seem obvious that a real transition to renewable energies is urgent, but not all transitions are the same or fair.
Wind turbine farm Tunisia. Image credit Dana Smillie for the World Bank via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
A study on energy transition in Tunisia, conducted by the Working Group for Energy Democracy and the Tunisian Platform for Alternatives in collaboration with the Transnational Institute reminds us that energy should not be discerned as a profit-making commodity, but an inalienable right. The production and distribution of energy must be based primarily on the principles of distributive justice and popular sovereignty, contrary to the imperatives and deficiencies of the global free-trade system that disregards local social and ecological needs.
The recent discussions at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP)27 concur with the urgency for climate change mitigation and adaptation; they continue pushing towards a liberalized energy model in North Africa, including Tunisia. Tunisian successive governments have been furthering liberalization and privatization agendas through legal and fiscal incentives offered to national and international investors to produce green energy.
