'I will be completely independent': New EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra

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.

Was he disappointed that 179 MEPs voted against him? (Some 279 voted in favour, and 33 abstained). "No, I think these numbers are decent and, in any case, what I will do is reach out to people of course in the centre, but also on the left and on the right, because a topic like this that is so truly transformational for our societies deserves as broad support as we can get," Hoekstra says.

"Actually, reaching out is something we should do at various levels," Hoekstra goes on to say. "First of all, within the European Union. Secondly, working across the political spectrum and then third, reaching out to our friends across the global stage."

Hoekstra is busy preparing for the crucial COP28 climate summit in Dubai. The EU has started a process to establish a 2040 climate target, putting the EU on a path towards climate neutrality by 2050. So what is Hoekstra hoping to get out of the COP?

"If you zoom out a bit, you could say we actually have three things to do. One is to be very ambitious on our own climate action for 2040 and, of course, beyond, and driving down the emissions. The second thing is making sure we do much more with the global community, because the number that stuck with me is that actually 93 percent of emissions now takes place outside of Europe. That doesn't mean at all that we shouldn't drive down to 7 percent as quickly as we can, but there is more to be done. And the third – and that is