Delta Life 8

6 N ot many Dutch people have an English Wiki­ pedia page that is longer than in their own language. Renée Jones-Bos (1952) is the exception, but she has spent her life travelling the world. First as a student, then as an inter­ preter, later as a diplomat. She has studied Russian and Italian, politics and economics, and those are useful skills everywhere. Now she is rounding off her career in Moscow. Is there a common theme in that life? Water, of course, which is hardly surprising. It is a subject close to the heart of every Dutch person and, when we go abroad, we just can’t stop ourselves talking about it. Renée Jones-Bos knows like no other that water in Dhaka, Bangladesh, means something very different from what it means in Paramaribo, Prague or in Washington. There is one similarity: water is a factor in the background of to so many challenges that it is now time to see all those supporting roles as just one leading role. ‘Water diplomat should be an official title.’ How do Russians see the Dutch? ‘In America you get questions about fingers in the dike; Russians want to know why Dutch people are so tall. I like to tell them it’s because we have to keep our heads above water. We are known as seafarers and engineers here, people who are good at infrastructure and straightening rivers. Their Tzar studied in the Netherlands; Saint Petersburg even has a Dutch district and it is protected by a dike built using Dutch expertise. And Russia is an enormous country with a quarter of the world’s water supply. Sea-level rise is less of an issue here: there are not many densely-populated coastal areas. However, there are local shortages, drought and sur­ pluses: Siberian cities struggle with fast-melting snow in spring.’ What water issues does a diplomat see during her career? ‘Water actually plays a crucial role in all major challenges. The growth of the world’s population, the growth of agri­ culture to feed that population, industrial development, energy supplies: everything needs water. And where there is too little water, we are seeing more and more conflicts and refugees. There really isn’t anything that isn’t linked to water. We often talk about other causes but water, whether it is too much or too little, accelerates and exacerbates the challenges of our time.’ If water is so important, there has to be something like water diplomacy. ‘There certainly is. Not officially as yet but diplomats throughout the world are working on this area. And the Netherlands actually plays an important role in developing initiatives. Of course, we have been supplying our knowledge for decades everywhere in the world. Our king was very closely involved before his reign began. But behind the scenes, we have been deeply committed to work on the Planetary Security Initiative for several years now, bringing 'WATER DIPLOMAT SHOULD BE AN OFFICIAL TITLE' Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos, who represents Dutch interests in Moscow, has seen a lot of the world during her career and has come across more and more water-related challenges. She argues for a new discipline: water diplomacy. 'International river conventions are a wonderful example.' BY PJOTR VAN LENTEREN / IMAGE KICK SMEETS