The Impact of Social Development on Renewable Energy Consumption in Tunisia: A Need for Sustainability and Equity of Capabilities

The aim of this research is to examine the short and long term impact of social development on the consumption of renewable energy in Tunisia. Our conceptual framework centres on the capacity of individuals to contribute to sustainability, and thereby help prevent risks and increase resilience. We in fact consider the possibility that social development represents an endpoint for sustainable development. Our proposed methodology derives from a Social Development Index (SDI) which is determined by aggregating various indicators associated with social wellbeing. We then use the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to investigate the existence of any causal relationship between social development and renewable energy consumption in the case of Tunisia. Empirical analysis shows that no such relationship exists over the long term (in both directions), but that a short term effect is detected at the 10% level of significance. This implies that additional specific strategies will be required to improve the degree of awareness among Tunisian people about the nationwide transition to renewable energy. Indeed, the empirical finding suggests that decision-makers and political leaders in developing countries such as Tunisia should develop consistent policies to ensure that any issues of uncertainty inherent to the development process are avoided, especially in the light of the current health emergency (Covid-19).