News

Gabès: When Industry Erases an Oasis

There are places in the world born with a natural vocation for harmony. Gabès, on the southeastern coast of Tunisia, was one of them.

A rare meeting of sea, desert, and coastal oasis. A unique ecosystem that once sustained agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Today, however, this city has become a symbol of environmental and human collapse, caused by decades of neglect and harmful political decisions.

Oasis in Collapse: What Happened?

Since the 1970s, Gabès has hosted a massive Phosphate Chemical Complex (GTC). This industry is vital to Tunisia’s economy, but the waste it produces—especially phosphogypsum—has been slowly poisoning everything around it: the air, the water, the soil… and its people.

The Contamination Trio:

• Phosphogypsum (PG): an acidic and potentially radioactive residue dumped directly into the soil and sea

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) & Ammonia (NH₃): toxic gases that pollute the air people breathe

• Cadmium (Cd): a highly toxic heavy metal accumulating in the marine food chain

Together, these substances create an environment where life is slowly being poisoned every single day.

From Environment to Public Health: A Vicious Cycle

The environmental crisis in Gabès has gone beyond ecology—it is now deeply rooted in public health. Around the industrial complex, reports are alarming:

• Over 300 cases of acute asphyxiation from inhaling industrial gases

• A significant rise in chronic respiratory diseases

• More than 1,000 cases of hepatitis linked to contaminated water

• Growing records of cancer, birth defects, and diseases caused by long-term exposure to heavy metals

The air is toxic. The water is contaminated. The soil is dying. And with it, sustainable economic alternatives that could free the city from this poisonous dependency are disappearing.

The Sea Is Dying Too: Marine Ecosystem Collapse

The Gulf of Gabès, once rich in marine biodiversity, now faces eutrophication, extreme turbidity, and the collapse of its food chain base.

Fishing has been severely compromised. The blue economy is no longer viable. Marine species are silently disappearing in what seems like an irreversible scenario unless urgent action is taken.

Politics and Regression: A Dangerous Choice

In 2017, an official mandate called for the dismantling of polluting units—an initial step toward environmental justice. However, this promise was abandoned. Worse still, phosphogypsum was reclassified as a “raw material” instead of a “hazardous waste.”

This change deregulates waste management, allowing the industry to continue its practices without bearing the environmental cost. Local movements like Stop Pollution denounce this as a deliberate regression—and they are right.

Why This Matters to All of Us

Because Gabès is a warning—a microcosm of what can happen anywhere in the world when profit is prioritized over life. It is a clear alert about the risks of economic models based on intensive extraction and environmental neglect.

• The contamination of an aquifer affects generations

• The destruction of a marine ecosystem destabilizes entire food chains

• The continuous exposure of human populations to toxic gases and heavy metals is a direct violation of basic human rights

Gabès is not an isolated tragedy. It is a global warning.

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Opinion

The Energy Transition: Progress or a New Form of Colonialism?

The energy transition has been promoted as an inevitable path toward a cleaner and more sustainable future. But as this global shift accelerates, a critical question emerges: who is truly paying the price for this transformation?

While fossil fuels are being replaced by renewable energy sources, the environmental and social impacts tied to the extraction of minerals required for this new green economy are largely concentrated in the Global South.

Solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbines depend on minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. These resources are extracted primarily from Latin America, Africa, and Asia—regions that have historically faced environmental exploitation and deep structural inequalities.

This so-called clean transition is far from neutral. It merely relocates the damage.

The Weight of “Dirty Modernization”

“Dirty modernization” refers to a development model in which the prosperity of some is built on the systematic exploitation of others. Countries in the Global North externalize environmental and social costs to regions with weaker institutional power. This dynamic is not new, but now it is justified under the label of sustainability.

Take lithium extraction in the Salar de Atacama in Chile: it consumes nearly 50 times more water than the daily use of local communities—this in one of the driest places on Earth. The land sinks, lagoons disappear, and traditional ways of life are pushed to extinction. There is nothing sustainable about this.

Meanwhile, most of the economic benefits remain in the North, where technology is developed and final products are sold.

Dependence and Invisibility

It’s easy to advocate for sustainability when you don’t see open-pit mines, collapsing ecosystems, sick workers, and displaced communities.

What we are witnessing is not energy liberation, but a shift in dependency: fossil fuels are being replaced with critical minerals. The exploitation model remains the same—only now it is hidden behind the promise of green progress.

And What About the Construction Industry?

This is where the conversation becomes especially relevant.

If the materials we use in our buildings come from supply chains marked by social and environmental harm, we are not building sustainably—we are simply rebranding extraction.

Ask yourself: do you know where the minerals in the “green technologies” you specify in your projects actually come from?

What We Must Demand

A fair energy transition is possible—but only if we change the rules of the game:

• Real material traceability: full transparency in sourcing and production

• Accountability in certifications: rejecting green labels that hide harmful practices

• Investment in circular economy and urban mining: reducing primary extraction is both urgent and feasible

• Inclusion of local communities: affected populations must have a voice in decision-making processes

These topics have been explored in depth in previous editions—visit our blog to learn more: news.ugreen.com.br

Final Note

The energy transition is essential. But it cannot repeat the mistakes of the past disguised as innovation. There is no true sustainability when technological advancement is built on the sacrifice of vulnerable territories.

When the Global North profits from “decarbonization” while the Global South suffers water scarcity, human rights violations, and environmental degradation, we are not witnessing a green revolution—we are witnessing a colonial transition.

If we are serious about a fair transformation, we must acknowledge that sustainability only exists when impacts are shared, voices are respected, and solutions do not reproduce historical inequalities.

Ultimately, building sustainably means rejecting the logic of externalization—choosing materials responsibly, designing with purpose, and acting with collective accountability.