(Bloomberg) — The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is tiny, with just 120,000 residents scattered across 32 tropical atolls, but it’s playing an outsize role in an election that will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals.
Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian ocean scientist, says Kiribati’s ambassador tried to bribe her to drop out of the race to run the International Seabed Authority that’s responsible for both the exploitation and conservation of more than half the ocean floor.
The ambassador, Teburoro Tito, says he merely suggested Carvalho step aside to clear the path for Kiribati’s own nominee, incumbent Michael Lodge. Lodge denies any involvement.
The dispute is characteristic of what’s become the most contentious election ever held by the obscure, Kingston, Jamaica-based organization. On one side is Lodge, 64, who says one of his top priorities is finalizing mining regulations that would kickstart a potentially multi-billion-dollar deep sea metals industry.
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