Talking Europe hosts the newly appointed EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra. The EU has put the Green Deal at the heart of its policy making, and Hoekstra was confirmed in the key job after somewhat fractious hearings in the European Parliament, where some MEPs drew attention to his past work for oil and gas giant Shell. We discuss his plans for implementing the green transition, and the upcoming COP28 summit in Dubai.
Hoekstra insists that his past association with Shell does not make him the wrong person for the job. "I worked for them until, I think, 2004. So not exactly the Stone Age, but quite a while ago. I will be absolutely, completely independent, and make sure that we speak truth to power when that is required," Hoekstra says.
