René van Hell is Board Director at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the constituency offices of the Netherlands, China, Mongolia, North Macedonia and Armenia since June 2024. Prior to this role, he served as Ambassador for Sustainable Development, Director of Inclusive Green Growth and Arctic Ambassador for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which his directorate coordinated international climate and energy policy and managed a portfolio of official development assistance (ODA) activities on water, energy, food and critical materials. Before this position, he served as the Netherlands Ambassador to Hungary, and as Director for International Enterprise and Deputy Director for Trade Policy and Economic Governance issues at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2004 until September 2008, he served as head of the economic division at the Netherlands Embassy in Washington, DC. And from 2000 until 2004, he led a team in the Economic Policy Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in The Hague. He has also worked as an economist and advisor at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union and served the European Parliament as an advisor for energy, development cooperation and budget issues for the cities of Brussels, Belgium, and Strasbourg, France. René has a master's in economics and business administration from the University of Amsterdam.