Wopke Hoekstra has been the European Commissioner for Climate Action since September of 2023. Before assuming office in Brussels, he held political positions in the Netherlands and the private sector. After graduating in law from Leiden University, and having studied at LUISS in Rome, he worked at Shell for two years. Thereafter, he completed an MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore and worked for consultancy firm McKinsey & Company from 2006 to 2017, becoming partner in 2013. In 2011, he became the youngest member of the Dutch Senate for the CDA, a party that he led between 2020 and 2023. From 2017 to 2022, Hoekstra served as minister of finance, and from 2022 until August 2023, he was deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.