EU’s Next Climate Chief Faces Challenges at Home and Abroad

Former Dutch foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra will be approved as the European Union’s next climate commissioner — leading the bloc’s negotiating team at COP28 at a time when green policies are being increasingly challenged at home.

EU lawmakers gathered in Strasbourg, France, will vote Thursday to approve Hoekstra’s nomination and that of Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic, who has been appointed executive vice president overseeing the green deal. The vote is a formality after coordinators from two-thirds of the political groups signaled their support at a meeting Wednesday.

Hoekstra and Sefcovic were grilled by lawmakers for over three hours on the ...