The only legal framework that can force a member state to follow environmental aims of EU Commission is a regulation, not a directive as such. The VAT is already harmonised to much extent. You may think of harmonised tax collection of the VAT. I don't believe this goal is politically easily achievable, including an increase in the EU share of VAT collection. Besides, VAT is in principle neutral in business operations (through its deductibility in business-to-business transactions). Therefore, it cannot in general be a mechanism to support investments in renewable energy generation. The experience of the last year shows that the way in which investments in renewable energy and the use of fossil energy resources are financed and supported, depends more on political expediency than well-considered policy.

Such measures should be taken not only for member states, but also for candidate and other peripheral countries. Supports and subsidies should be directed towards renewable energy sources. For example, there is still the construction of coal thermal power plants in Turkey, but EU funds should also be activated in order to transform the waste that has not been evaluated sufficiently yet into energy.

An EU Directive ( or even a Regulation) would first have to be adopted by the majority of Member States (MS) of EU according to the procedure. Each country has a vote according to it size. So 3 big MS against and the measure would not even proposed since neither the Commission nor MS want to waste time and effort. In any case you raise an issue of industrial policy where MS have positions which reflect where they have long held policies in this area depending on whether they have or have access to cheap energy or not. Can or Would the European Parliament adopt a Motion requesting the Council and Commission to adopt the measures that you are keen on? It would be a first!

Iceland volcano erupts on Reykjanes peninsula (BBC, 4 hours ago). Volcanic eruptions, always Fascinating in Beauty and Majesty, remind us in a spectacular way of essential factors in the heat balance of the globe: the transfers at the Visible Lithosphere-Atmosphere Interface in the form of Seismic and Volcanic Activities and the transfers at the Lithosphere-Hydrosphere interface, Invisible because they occur at the bottom of the oceans. Unlike the GHE, the effects of these activities on Climate Change are not well analyzed, at least in Climate Models, including those used in IPCC projections.

Illustration Source: ICELANDIC MET OFFICE:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67756413

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Climate_Change_and_Climate_Models_Progress_and_LimitsArticle Predictability of water resources with global climate models...

"In the face of the darkening outlook science now puts before us, love, hope, gratitude, and a connection to something beyond ourselves constitute the kind of light worth strengthening. Now more than ever." This is the ultimate conclusion of the disconcerting paper by Moser, S. C. 2020, "The work after “It's too late” (to prevent dangerous climate change), Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(1), e606. Available on: http://susannemoser.com/documents/Moser_WIREsCC_2019_theworkaftertoolate_accepted_pre-proof.pdf

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Climate_Change_Water_Resources

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture

European Environmental Conscience in EU Politics "… energy saving will be of major benefit to the economy in terms of the balance of payments, of maintaining our standard of living and of curbing inflation. It is only by means of positive investment that we shall be able to produce the savings in energy, or the less wasteful consumption of energy, which are required. … If we wasted less power and spent a little money on economy measures we should not need to spend about". Extract from the following reference on the European Energy Pattern: Hoerber, T., & Weber, G. (2021). European Environmental Conscience in EU Politics. Routledge.

Excerpt (24 pages) available on:

https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781000509236_A42180697/preview-9781000509236_A42180697.pdf

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture

Strategic environmental policies: Electric Vehicles (EVs) vs Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs). "..Despite the optimism in the growth of the EV market in developed countries, the scenario in developing countries is not so encouraging. The growth in the electric car market is not high, and the reason for this slowdown comes from the reluctance to implement more aggressive policies against the use of ICEVs due to various reasons. First, the cost of these cars in the market is high compared to the low income of the majority of the population, discouraging the consumption of ICEV in favour of EVs affects consumer surplus. Second, the drop in ICEV production affects producer surplus. Third, the perception of environmental damage in developing countries is limited..." Excerpt from the Conclusion of the Paper: Espinosa Ramírez, R., & Kayalıca, M. (2023). Strategic environmental policies: Electric vehicles vs internal combustion engine vehicles Políticas ambientales estratégica: vehículos eléctricos vs vehículos de combustión interna. Contaduria y Administracion, 68(4). Available on:

https://avesis.itu.edu.tr/yayin/f5095778-2ca9-452a-804c-0e05858dc3bc/strategic-environmental-policies-electric-vehicles-vs-internal-combustion-engine-vehicles-politicas-ambientales-estrategica-vehiculos-electricos-vs-vehiculos-de-combustion-interna/document.pdf

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Electric_Vehicle_Battery_and_Rare_Earths_Technological_Economic_and_Environmental_Issues

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

Several publications indicate that Coal exploitation and Trade is a sector with substantial opportunity for corruption, especially as it expands into new International Markets. The paper by Setyawati D., 2022, "Injustice and environmental harm in extractive industries and solar energy policies in Indonesia. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 11(1): 14-27" is, as such, instructive. One may read there: "...the persistent enthusiasm for coal energy and the ambitious deployment of renewable energy may have led to injustices in the energy system , short-sighted corrupt practices, and environmental harm...". The author arrives at a more general conclusion: he demonstrates "how the marginalization of rural communities and production of environmental harm has been perpetuated by powerful figures, reinforced since colonialism, and escalated by the demands of the Global North..."

Read on:

https://20.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/IntJlCrimJustSocDem/2022/3.html

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

In these festive days, I would like to mention this 30 year old Paper, "Joy A. Palmer (1993) From Santa Claus to sustainability: emerging understanding of concepts and issues in environmental science, International Journal of Science Education, 15:5 , 487-495", in which the author discusses the nature and development of children's early knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. as strange as it may seem, we learn that "pre‐school children may well have a strong base of accurate scientific knowledge upon which early years environmental teaching may build." Happy Holidays For All

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture

The study by Li et al. [1] (released 10 days ago) "Energy transition paradox: Solar and wind growth can hinder decarbonization" is based on a climate-hydrology-economics-energy model to analyze the long-run impacts of policy-driven renewables on the electricity price and finally on the carbon emissions of future energy. A remarkable finding of the research is to show that without intervention, the lower electricity price could result in a 42 % reduction in hydropower investments by 2050. With increased intermittent renewables and decreased investments in hydropower, the energy system is expected to deploy more backup fossil-fuel options, which could increase carbon emissions by 45 %. Therefore, deploying more renewable energy would depress the investments in hydropower plants and further hinder decarbonization unexpectedly, suggesting a possible paradox in the energy transition. This possible paradox calls for a new, and robust policy to ensure the benefits of decarbonization are realized regardless of potential changes electricity prices.

[1] Li, X., Liu, P., Feng, M., Jordaan, S. M., Cheng, L., Ming, B., ... & Liu, W. (2024). Energy transition paradox: Solar and wind growth can hinder decarbonization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 192, 114220.

See :

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S136403212301078X

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Adaptation_and_Resilience_to_Climate_Change_Temporal_Paradox_versus_Chronology_Protection_Conjecture

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

Happy New Year