France&#39;s environment minister Nicolas Hulot furiously fended off rumours of sexual harassment on Thursday two weeks after another member of President Emmanuel Macron&#39;s cabinet was accused of rape.

Hulot, a celebrity green activist who is one of Macron&#39;s most popular ministers, appeared close to tears in a television interview as he denied the &quot;shameful&quot; rumours.

&quot;It hurts, when it&#39;s wrongful and unfounded. Yesterday my children were in tears,&quot; the 62-year-old said, describing the situation as &quot;a nightmare&quot;.

Hulot, a TV star who has forged a three-decade career as an environmental campaigner, won swift support from the presidency.

&quot;As he has not been charged, there is no reason why he should resign,&quot; Macron&#39;s office said.

Questioned on BFMTV about accusations from &quot;the grand-daughter of a famous politician&quot; dating back to 1997, Hulot acknowledged that the woman filed a complaint in 2008 but said the case was dismissed.

&quot;I was questioned at my own request and investigators very quickly concluded that there was nothing suggesting the case should be followed up,&quot; Hulot said.

He was attempting to clear the air ahead of the publication of an investigation by a magazine that poses fresh problems for Hulot, who has faced a difficult start to life as a politician.

The Ebdo weekly, due to publish an interview with his unnamed accuser on Friday, has described her accusations of being abused at one of his homes as &quot;devastating&quot;.

Hulot also denied suggestions that a former colleague had accused him of harassment.

&quot;The answer is no,&quot; he told BFM. &quot;The worst thing is that she has already been questioned by some of your colleagues and she gave the same answer.&quot;&nbsp;

He said he had not yet considered resigning, but added: &quot;My family comes first, that&#39;s what will guide my decision.&quot;

Second minister under fire 
The rumours dogging Hulot emerged after Paris prosecutors reopened an investigation in late January into rape allegations against Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin.

A former call girl claims he pressured her into sex in 2009 in exchange for helping her clear her name in a legal dispute.

Darmanin&#39;s lawyers have accused her of a &quot;crude attempt to harm&quot; the minister&#39;s reputation and said he was suing her for slander, and other ministers have rallied around their colleague.

France, like other countries around the world, has seen an outpouring of allegations of sexual assault and harassment in the wake of the scandal engulfing Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Hulot was among several figures Macron brought in from outside politics to brighten his cabinet when the centrist newcomer came to power in May.

The environmentalist has regularly been reported to be on the brink of resigning, frustrated over issues including a decision to delay France&#39;s commitment to cutting its reliance on nuclear energy to 50 percent until after 2025.

After filing a declaration of his assets in December as required by ministers, press reports highlighted how the eco-warrior owned nine motor-engined vehicles, including an SUV.&nbsp;

Nicolas Hulot, a celebrity green activist who is one of Macron's most popular ministers, appeared close to tears in a television interview as he denied the 'shameful' rumours

France's environment minister Nicolas Hulot furiously fended off rumours of sexual harassment on Thursday two weeks after another member of President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet was accused of rape. Hulot, a celebrity green activist who is one of Macron's most popular ministers, appeared close to tears in a television interview as he denied the "shameful" rumours. "It hurts, when it's wrongful and unfounded. Yesterday my children were in tears," the 62-year-old said, describing the situation as "a nightmare". Hulot, a TV star who has forged a three-decade career as an environmental campaigner, won swift support from the presidency. "As he has not been charged, there is no reason why he should resign," Macron's office said. Questioned on BFMTV about accusations from "the grand-daughter of a famous politician" dating back to 1997, Hulot acknowledged that the woman filed a complaint in 2008 but said the case was dismissed. "I was questioned at my own request and investigators very quickly concluded that there was nothing suggesting the case should be followed up," Hulot said. He was attempting to clear the air ahead of the publication of an investigation by a magazine that poses fresh problems for Hulot, who has faced a difficult start to life as a politician. The Ebdo weekly, due to publish an interview with his unnamed accuser on Friday, has described her accusations of being abused at one of his homes as "devastating". Hulot also denied suggestions that a former colleague had accused him of harassment. "The answer is no," he told BFM. "The worst thing is that she has already been questioned by some of your colleagues and she gave the same answer." He said he had not yet considered resigning, but added: "My family comes first, that's what will guide my decision." Second minister under fire The rumours dogging Hulot emerged after Paris prosecutors reopened an investigation in late January into rape allegations against Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin. A former call girl claims he pressured her into sex in 2009 in exchange for helping her clear her name in a legal dispute. Darmanin's lawyers have accused her of a "crude attempt to harm" the minister's reputation and said he was suing her for slander, and other ministers have rallied around their colleague. France, like other countries around the world, has seen an outpouring of allegations of sexual assault and harassment in the wake of the scandal engulfing Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Hulot was among several figures Macron brought in from outside politics to brighten his cabinet when the centrist newcomer came to power in May. The environmentalist has regularly been reported to be on the brink of resigning, frustrated over issues including a decision to delay France's commitment to cutting its reliance on nuclear energy to 50 percent until after 2025. After filing a declaration of his assets in December as required by ministers, press reports highlighted how the eco-warrior owned nine motor-engined vehicles, including an SUV.

Popular French minister denies sex harassment rumours

As part of its ambitious plan to meet its Paris climate accord targets, France pledged today to end sales of petrol and diesl vehicles by 2040, its new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said today according to an&nbsp;AFP report.

&quot;We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040,&quot; Hulot said, calling it a &quot;veritable revolution&quot;. Hulot, a long-time environemental campaigner fresh into politics in his major post&nbsp;under Macron&#39;s new government, has called for France to be &quot;carbon neutral&quot; by 2050.

Hulot said that weaning France off conventional cars was a matter of &quot;public health&quot;; Majot French cities like&nbsp;Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and others&nbsp;have a chronic smog problem.&nbsp;Hulot&#39;s&nbsp;appointment was seen by many as a testament to Macron&#39;s commitment to environmentalism.

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French Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition Nicolas Hulot delivers a speech to present his plan on climate on July 6, 2017 in Paris. (AFP)
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A prepared French&nbsp;industry

France is the largest manufacturer of electric cars sold in Europe, with the Renault Zoe outselling by a large margin other models in 2016. &nbsp;Hulot said that French carmakers Peugeot-Citroen and Renault were well equipped to make the change, but conceded that obtaining the goal would be &quot;tough&quot;.

This announcement comes a day after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/science-tech/geelys-volvo-to-go-all-electric-with-new-models-from-2019-17618" target="_blank">Volvo </a>announced it is phasing out its petrol-only cars beginning in 2019. All new Volvos will be either electric or hybrids. &nbsp;

Still, in 2016&nbsp;hybrid and electric cars accounted for only 3.6 per cent of new cars registered in Western Europe, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers&#39; Association.

But, undeterred,&nbsp;last month&nbsp;the 39-year-old Macron hit back at US President Donald Trump&#39;s announcement that he would pull out of the 2015 Paris accord with a video vowing to &quot;make our planet great again&quot;,&nbsp;a play on Trump&#39;s campaign pledge to &quot;make America great again&quot;.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jhdGrcHR2UA" width="560"></iframe>

Nicolas Hulot himself as also been involved and even starred in&nbsp;viral videos about fighting climate change, like this 2015 one, released before COP 21 in France&nbsp;and seen over two million times.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yKLWW_j4a_E" width="560"></iframe>

(With agency inputs)

New Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot made the announcement today as part of France's bold plan to meet its Paris climate accord targets

As part of its ambitious plan to meet its Paris climate accord targets, France pledged today to end sales of petrol and diesl vehicles by 2040, its new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said today according to an AFP report. "We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040," Hulot said, calling it a "veritable revolution". Hulot, a long-time environemental campaigner fresh into politics in his major post under Macron's new government, has called for France to be "carbon neutral" by 2050. Hulot said that weaning France off conventional cars was a matter of "public health"; Majot French cities like Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and others have a chronic smog problem. Hulot's appointment was seen by many as a testament to Macron's commitment to environmentalism. French Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition Nicolas Hulot delivers a speech to present his plan on climate on July 6, 2017 in Paris. (AFP) × A prepared French industry France is the largest manufacturer of electric cars sold in Europe, with the Renault Zoe outselling by a large margin other models in 2016. Hulot said that French carmakers Peugeot-Citroen and Renault were well equipped to make the change, but conceded that obtaining the goal would be "tough". This announcement comes a day after Volvo announced it is phasing out its petrol-only cars beginning in 2019. All new Volvos will be either electric or hybrids. Still, in 2016 hybrid and electric cars accounted for only 3.6 per cent of new cars registered in Western Europe, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. But, undeterred, last month the 39-year-old Macron hit back at US President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the 2015 Paris accord with a video vowing to "make our planet great again", a play on Trump's campaign pledge to "make America great again". Nicolas Hulot himself as also been involved and even starred in viral videos about fighting climate change, like this 2015 one, released before COP 21 in France and seen over two million times. (With agency inputs)

France to end sales of petrol, diesel vehicles by 2040

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Popular French minister denies sex harassment rumours

France to end sales of petrol, diesel vehicles by 2040