In the shadow of the political and economic crises, another struggle is being waged in Tunisia: that for a liveable environment and a just ecological transition. Driven by a dynamic but fragile civil society, environmental mobilizations are asserting themselves as forms of citizen resistance to an increasingly authoritarian regime.
Beyond technocratic rhetoric on sustainability or government announcements on renewable energies, Tunisian ecology today is permeated by deep-rooted, radical demands: for social justice, territorial sovereignty and real democracy. These are the findings of Mohamed Ismail Sabry's study, Environmental Organizations and Mobilization in Tunisia, published in April 2025 by the Arab Reform Initiative.2025-04-ENGLISH-Environmental-Organizations-and-Mobilization-in-Tunisia-2.pdf
An ecology forged in struggle
The study covers the period from 2011 to 2024, the years of the "Tunisian transition", marked first by democratic hope, then by a slow authoritarian drift embodied by Kaïs Saïed. Against this backdrop, environmental civil society organizations (ECSOs) proliferated. Some were born in the post-revolutionary effervescence, while others grew out of an older militant fabric, often linked to human rights, social struggles or trade unions.
These organizations do more than just protect nature: they systematically link the environment to social, economic and democratic issues. Their battlegrounds range from illegal landfills and polluting chemical plants to water privatization and the energy policies dictated by international donors.
Among the cases studied: pollution in Gabès caused by Groupe Chimique Tunisien, toxic discharges from the textile industry in the Gulf of Monastir, and conflicts over access to water in Redeyef. These are all struggles that combine territorial inequalities, socio-economic marginalization and state inaction.
Between awareness, resistance and litigation
ECSO tactics are varied. Awareness-raising (workshops, communication campaigns, production of critical knowledge) remains the most widely used and considered the most effective. It is supported in particular by international foundations (Heinrich Böll, Rosa Luxemburg, Friedrich Ebert) in partnership with Tunisian NGOs. But direct protest actions (sit-ins, blockades, demonstrations) have also multiplied, particularly in the southern and interior regions.
Some of these mobilizations have led to legal victories, as in the case of the closure of a landfill in Agareb thanks to the action of the Manich Msab collective ("I am not garbage"). Others have imposed temporary measures (access to water, halting projects) or alerted public opinion.
On the other hand, recourse to litigation remains limited due to administrative delays, a lack of legal resources and the weakness of judicial independence - a problem that has become increasingly acute since 2021.
A green transition... without citizens
While Tunisia has stated its ambitions in terms of renewable energies and green hydrogen production (notably for export to Europe), the ECSOs denounce an imposed, opaque and extractive transition. Projects such as the Borj Essalhi wind farm and hydrogen pilot programs are being criticized for their social impact, land grabbing, noise pollution and, above all, lack of consultation with local populations.
The Working Group for Energy Democracy, made up of trade unions affiliated to the UGTT, proposes an alternative vision of transition, based on social rights, energy sovereignty and territorial justice. It opposes privatization of the sector and campaigns for shared energy governance.
Civic space under pressure
But these mobilizations are taking place in an increasingly repressive political context. Since Kaïs Saïed's concentration of power in July 2021, several draft laws have been designed to restrict the activities of associations, notably by controlling foreign funding and allowing administrative dissolution without judicial appeal.
Although the law has not yet been passed, its dissuasive effect is real: several ECSOs have scaled down their activities or broken off partnerships, for fear of reprisals or public stigmatization. Authoritarianism manifests itself not only through coercion, but also through disinformation, the delegitimization of NGOs and the criminalization of dissent - including environmental dissent.
A political and popular ecology
One of the major contributions of the study is to show that ecology in Tunisia is not a technocratic luxury, nor a depoliticized sector. It is a response to social injustice, corruption, resource grabbing and the absence of real democracy. It is the place where new forms of political participation are invented: local, decentralized, autonomous, collective.
Tunisia's environmental collectives are demonstrating that defending the environment means defending the right to a city, to water, to health, to information and to territorial sovereignty. It means refusing to marginalize inland regions. It means demanding that the green transition should not be achieved at the expense of the most vulnerable, but on the basis of their needs, their knowledge and their struggles.
Conclusion: for a just, democratic and popular transition
As Tunisia's civic space shrinks and ecological emergencies intensify, ECSOs play a crucial role in maintaining citizen vigilance, defending collective rights and promoting alternatives to the dominant development model.
Tunisian ecology is an ecology of resistance. It is one of the few places where the democratic aspirations of 2011 are still echoing. More than ever, it deserves to be supported, recognized and relayed.
