by Oui
Tue Nov 25th, 2025 at 09:20:36 AM EST
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In 2023 EU commissioner Frans Timmermans was replaced by Wopke Hoekstra from the rightwing of the Christian Democrats party (CDA).
There is also criticism within Hoekstra's own party, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), as well as from environmental organizations.
The petition calls on parliament to nominate a candidate who takes climate change seriously.
Hoekstra, who used to work for McKinsey and Royal Shell oil company, has not distinguished himself as a protector of the climate, neither as finance minister nor as foreign minister, the citizens' movement said.
"Although Hoekstra has neither the knowledge, skills nor the will to act against a total climate catastrophe, he of all people is nominated as EU commissioner," the group said.
Caretaker government Rutte IV nominates controversial figure to head Green Deal policy in Brussels.
Dutch government nominates foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra as EU Commissioner | EuroNews - 25 Aug. 2023 |
Outgoing foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra was named Friday as the Dutch government's nomination for EU Commissioner, after EU climate chief Frans Timmermans resigned to run in the upcoming Dutch elections.
"After consultations within the government and with the president of the European Commission, I have decided to put forward Wopke Hoekstra as candidate for the European Commission," caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said in a statement.
Hoekstra has served as the Dutch foreign minister since 2022. The four-party coalition government recently collapsed amid disagreement over migration policy.
He was finance minister between 2017 and 2022, representing the Netherlands in negotiations on the EU's post-pandemic financial recovery. He gained a reputation in Brussels as one of the most vocal critics of shared fiscal burden, rallying a group of so-called "frugal" countries to oppose issuing collective debt in the form of "corona bonds".
Timmermans formally resigned from the Commission earlier this week and his replacement is expected to take the baton on the EU's climate policy, although Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could decide to allocate the climate portfolio to another Commissioner.
Hoekstra belongs to the right-leaning Christian Democratic Appeal party, whose political family the European People's Party (EPP) has come under fire recently for attempts to dilute and block landmark EU climate policies.
In response to the nomination, the group of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament confirmed their claim to the climate portfolio Friday, describing Hoekstra as a "controversial" candidate.
"Against the backdrop of the conservative EPP's recent cynical and populist manoeuvres to water down the Green Deal and derail key legislative files such as the nature restoration law, it is crucial for our Group that the climate portfolio remains in the hands of the Socialists and Democrats family," the S&D Group said in a statement.
Wopke Hoekstra may remain as European Commissioner: 'It smells of old politics'
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COP30 fails to land deal on fossil fuel transition but triples finance for climate adaptation
Instead of a global agreement to create roadmaps to shift away from fossil fuels and end deforestation, Brazil announces voluntary initiatives
After week-long row, COP30 fails to mention fossil fuels
Earlier in the week, after more than 80 countries had called for a roadmap to phase down oil, coal and gas to be kickstarted at COP30, observers said fossil fuel heavyweights, including Gulf States, Russia and India, insisted it stay out of the final "Global Mutirão" decision that was adopted in Belém, along with any explicit mention of fossil fuels.
On Friday, the European Union and the UK had fought hard against that opposition but ultimately had to settle for two new processes that are meant to reinforce ambition and implementation of countries' national climate plans (NDCs), with reports and a high-level dialogue due next year.
Before the final plenary, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said it had been "an intense and sometimes difficult week and evening", adding "we would have liked to have more". But, he said, "we think we should support [the COP outcome] because at least it is going in the right direction."
The Mutirão text encourages countries "to strengthen their existing nationally determined contribution at any time with a view to enhancing its level of ambition" and calls on them to accelerate their implementation "while striving to do better collectively and cooperatively".
In a last-minute push, Colombia - which championed a declaration to transition away from oil, coal and gas - told the closing plenary the country was "left with no other choice" but to object to the outcome of the dedicated mitigation track on emission-cutting efforts unless a mention to fossil fuels was added.
The EU was absent from an 82-country call spearheaded by Colombia to draw up a "roadmap" to deliver on the earlier agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.
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