The 49-year-old commissioner for climate will speak for the 27-nation bloc at November's COP30 UN conference in Brazil. It is not yet clear what his message will be.

The EU has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050 and as a milestone wants a 90-percent emissions cut by 2040 -- a target it hoped to lock in before COP30 as a signal of its climate leadership among world powers.

But talks have stalled between divided member states -- with the bloc now seeking agreement only on an emissions range for 2035, as a face-saving offering for the UN talks.

In an interview with AFP, Hoekstra played down the delay.

"Everyone outside of Europe knows perfectly well that we continue to be amongst the most ambitious in terms of climate action," he said.

"I am positive that by then (COP30) we will certainly have an ambitious target that Europe can take to the international stage," he added.

- Stint at Shell -

Standing close to two metres tall, the Dutch former minister -- first finance, then foreign affairs -- is among the higher-profile members of a commission team dominated by its boss, Ursula von der Leyen.

Environmental groups and left-wing lawmakers were initially hostile to his appointment as climate chief, during von der Leyen's term in 2023, seeing his years as a business consultant and a stint at oil giant Shell as disqualifying.

Hoekstra acknowledges his critics -- and points to his achievements in the role to set the record straight.

"I was for roughly three years with Shell, until 2004," he told AFP. "That is not exactly the Stone Age, but it has been a while ago, right?"

"Frankly speaking, I do think I have shown... that I do try to move the needle in the domain of climate action," he said.

In the words of a former associate within the EU commission, speaking on condition of anonymity, "he had 'Shell' written all over him when he first arrived."

"But he dug into the subject matter and did a good job," they said.

In his first round of UN climate talks, in Dubai in 2023, the EU was seen as playing a pivotal role in pushing other countries towards phasing out fossil fuels -- observers recalled Hoekstra speeding between meetings to get talks moving, in dark suit and running shoes.

- 'Pragmatic' approach -

Hailing from the centre-right, Hoekstra cut his political teeth navigating tough coalition negotiations in his native Netherlands.

In the EU parliament -- which has to sign off on the bloc's laws -- he is seen as solid on policy and keen to "build bridges along the political spectrum", in the words of one insider.

"Lawmakers were pretty relieved to see him return as commissioner in 2024," the official said.

After five years pushing a bold environmental agenda, however, the European Commission has had to adjust course since the bloc's parliament swung right last year.

In step with many European capitals, Brussels has shifted its focus to defence and competitiveness and moved to delay or roll back swathes of its own green regulations.

On climate, Hoekstra says the bloc's ambition is intact -- but that a "pragmatic" new approach is needed to keep the public onside.

"In the past we have been too one-dimensional by only focusing on how to advance climate goals," he told AFP.

"We need to make sure we bridge, we marry the domains of climate, of business, and also of strategic autonomy."

These past weeks Hoekstra criss-crossed Europe's capitals to try to broker a compromise on the 2040 target -- but with little to show for it so far.

For Neil Makaroff, of the Strategic Perspectives think tank, he could have played his cards better by putting forward the commission's proposal for 2040 -- a 90-percent cut with "flexibilities" worked in -- earlier than July.

In particular, Makaroff said, Hoekstra should have started negotiating much sooner with Paris -- whose reluctance to commit to the target is now proving a key hurdle.

"We wasted time," said Makaroff. "Now we risk ending up with our back to the wall in the final stretch" with the possibility of showing up empty-handed to the UN talks in Brazil.

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