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KINGSTON, August 5, 2024 (BenarNews) – Countries voted Friday to elect a Brazilian scientist to head the little-known United Nations organization that manages the world’s seafloor, promising “accountability and transparency” in deep-sea mining.
Growing opposition to the International Seabed Authority’s approval of companies to extract ocean minerals before its environmental regulations are finalized has fueled calls for change.
In a rare vote, Brazilian candidate Leticia Carvalho, a former oceanographer, defeated incumbent British lawyer Michael Lodge, who was criticized for colluding with seabed mining companies. Lodge was not present when the results were announced.
“The margin of victory reflects the desire for change,” Carvalho said. Bernal News. “I think transparency and accountability, broader engagement, more focus on other sciences, closing knowledge gaps are priority areas.”
While Lodge received the support of only 34 countries, Cavallo, currently a senior official at the United Nations Environment Programme and a former regulator of Brazil’s oil industry, received the support of 79 countries. Cavallo is also committed to restoring the neutrality of the secretary-general position.
A change in leadership at the Kingston-based International Seabed Authority could hamper efforts to quickly develop seabed mining regulations that would pave the way for mining to begin in areas under its jurisdiction. Meanwhile, some countries are exploring the possibility of nodule mining in their territorial waters, which are outside the ISA’s oversight.
As the world reduces its reliance on fossil fuels, golf ball-sized metal nodules scattered across the seabed are being hailed as a source of rare earths and minerals needed for green technologies such as electric vehicles.
Skeptics say such minerals are already abundant on land and warn that mining the seabed, which is not yet fully understood by science, could cause irreparable damage to the environment.
Lodge was nominated for the third time for Kiribati, one of three Pacific island nations that is working with Nasdaq-listed The Metals Company to develop seabed minerals. More than 30 countries were disqualified from the secret ballot due to arrears in financial contributions to the ISA.
Hundreds of ISA convention delegates and other attendees lined up to hug Carvalho after she was elected, including Metals CEO Gerard Barron.
After the vote, the company tweeted, “We appreciate her active engagement with our work and share her belief that regulatory action, rather than a moratorium, is the best way to fulfill the ISA’s responsibilities,” adding that they still hope to be the “first commercial operator in this promising industry.”
Greenpeace International campaigner Luisa Carson said she hoped Carvalho would work with governments to “change the course of the International Seabed Authority, which has for too long been driven by the narrow corporate interests of the deep-sea mining industry, to serve the public interest.”
At the International Seabed Authority’s annual assembly last week, more countries also called for a moratorium on mining until there is a better scientific and environmental understanding of its possible consequences.
Tuvalu’s position represents 10 of the current 18 Pacific Islands Forum member states, which oppose the immediate start of deep-sea mining activities.
Countries such as Vanuatu and Chile have also successfully pushed for a general debate on environmental policymaking within the International Seabed Authority.
Pelenadita Petro-Kala, a Tongan activist who opposes deep-sea mining, said she hoped the new leadership would “give science more time to validate new developments” such as alternative minerals for green technology, and have a more thorough conversation about proposed mining rules.
Deep-sea mineral mining is particularly controversial in the Pacific, where some economically backward island nations see it as a potential windfall but many others strongly oppose it.
In June 2021, the island nation of Nauru notified the Seabed Authority of its intention to begin mining, triggering for the first time a two-year deadline for the authority’s member states to finalize regulations.
Its chairman, David Adeang, told the assembly last week that the mining application it is currently preparing in conjunction with metal companies will allow the ISA to “make informed decisions based on real scientific data rather than emotion and speculation… PACNEWS
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