Agency Votes to Replace Official Accused of Rushing Start of Seabed Mining

The international agency charged with regulating seabed mining elected a U.N. environmental regulator to replace a leader accused of too-close industry ties.

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Leticia Carvalho was elected to lead the International Seabed Authority, replacing the departing Michael Lodge.

The international agency charged with regulating seabed mining worldwide voted on Friday to replace its top executive, after accusations that the British lawyer running the agency was too closely aligned with the mining industry.

Leticia Carvalho, an oceanographer from Brazil and a United Nations environmental regulator, was elected by a 79-to-34 vote by the nations that run the International Seabed Authority to replace Michael Lodge, a lawyer who has overseen the agency for nearly eight years.

“I can’t wait to start to work with state parties and stakeholders at this honorable organization,” Ms. Carvalho said after the vote, which was done by secret ballot.

Mr. Lodge has been a polarizing figure at the seabed authority, which has jurisdiction over any future mining in international waters. Environmentalists have argued that he worked behind the scenes with private contractors to try to accelerate the start of mining.

Mr. Lodge has vehemently rejected those claims, arguing that he has tried to impartially lead the agency as it works toward opening up small pieces of the ocean floor to mining.

More than 30 countries have called for a delay or moratorium on the start of seabed mining.

Ms. Carvalho has said she does not support a moratorium on seabed mining or a formal pause in the start of the effort. But in an interview, she said that she did not believe industrial-scale mining could start until environmental regulations are finalized and that it could take several years to do so.

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