Delta Life 8

8 DELTARES, OCTOBER 2017 together experts and managers from all over the world to talk about the strategic and economic aspects of water and the role of water in development cooperation. How should we approach imminent conflicts? How can we establish treaties between countries about the use of shared rivers?’ What was the water issue that made the strongest impression on you during your career? ‘I was appointed ambassador in Washington shortly after Hurricane Katrina and I visited New Orleans during the reconstruction phase. And, as if fate willed it, Hurricane Sandy battered New York at the end of my time as ambassador there. Both events showed me how incredibly strong and dangerous water can be. The Dutch know this: I was born near Zeeland, one year before the disastrous North Sea floods of 1953. Even so, when you witness something like that from close by, when you see how entire neighbourhoods are swept away, the pain suffered by entire families and communities... It’s awful.’ One of your first posts was in Dhaka in Bangladesh. Another country facing major challenges in this area. ‘Bangladesh is located in the delta of the Ganges and the Jamuna and, like the Netherlands, it has to deal with floods, land reclamation and everything that happens upstream with rivers like this. The residents and the managers are keenly aware of the need to make international agreements about how the river is used. Just like in Europe along the Rhine, and North Africa along the Nile. Of all the solutions you can think of to prevent or solve conflicts, river conventions are still the best. Talk about water diplomacy!’ The numbers don’t make for pleasant reading. What gives you hope? ‘I’m actually optimistic, even though I have to point out that developments in the right direction don’t happen on their own. Dutch people are used to making enormous progress by working together and making technical innovations but we are a small country and we can’t go it alone. Indeed, we shouldn’t want to. A lot of people are keeping an eye on the Netherlands; we are a living laboratory. Solutions are often tried and tested here first. We have universities and institutes that conduct targeted research. Money has been earmarked for the long term to keep our feet dry. Dutch multinationals are doing well on the sustainability index. Food producers Unilever and Heineken are experimenting with new plant varieties and satellite data to use as little water as possible during production. An enormous sustainable transformation of food production is taking place. So yes, I’m optimistic.’ What is at the heart of that optimism? ‘Worldwide, people are beginning to realise two things: first of all, that you can’t view water, food and energy separately. Without water, there is no food and no energy. Secondly, and it is mainly business that is focused on this issue, climate change and water shortages hit us in the wallet. That might sound mercenary but it’s important because it gets people into action. I see a shift in thinking about these kinds of challenges and new forms of cooperation being established everywhere between governments, the education sector and business. That’s a good thing.’ What can the Netherlands learn from the Russians and the rest of the world? ‘Our solutions are often expensive and time-consuming. When I tell people how we spent ten years talking about Room for the River with local people, they sometimes comment that it’s an enormous project and ask whether we haven’t anything better to do. Even so, many of the people we talk to ultimately agree that support and investment are important. There is one thing I have learnt: every country has its own culture and every country knows what works best for them.’ ’An enormous sustainable transformation of food production is on the way’