紐時賞析／攸關全球國際海域採礦權 「國際海底管理局」領導人之爭日趨險惡

吉里巴斯是太平洋的一個小島國，在國際海底管理局下任秘書長的選舉發揮關鍵作用。（紐約時報）

Fight Over Seabed Agency Leadership Turns Nasty

國際海牀機構主導權之爭 領導人

Allegations of possible payments to help secure votes. Claims of abuse of agency funds by top diplomats. A possible job offer to entice a candidate to withdraw from a race.

「可能付錢以協助獲得選票的指控」、「高級外交官濫用機構資金的主張」、「一份可能誘使候選人退出競爭的工作機會」。

These are not the shenanigans of a corrupt election in an unstable country. Rather, they are efforts in the seemingly genteel parlors of a United Nations-affiliated agency, meant to sway decisions related to the start of seabed mining of the metals used in electric vehicles.

這些不是一個不穩定國家的腐敗選舉詭計。相反的，它們是在一個聯合國附屬機構看似高雅客廳所做的努力，打算影響一些與啓動海底金屬採礦有關的決定，這些金屬用於電動車。

It is all part of a nasty fight over who will be the next leader of the International Seabed Authority, which controls mining in international waters worldwide.

這些都是關於誰將成爲「國際海底管理局」下任領導人險惡爭奪戰的一部分，該機構控制全球國際海域的採礦。

The accusations of trickery underscore the controversial nature of the agency’s coming agenda and the billions of dollars at stake. Some countries are fiercely opposed to the idea of mining the world’s deepest waters, while others see it as a badly needed economic opportunity. Whoever helms the agency’s top post over the next few years will have considerable influence over these decisions.

詐欺的指控，凸顯該機構即將到來議程的爭議性質，以及其攸關數十億美元。一些國家強烈反對在世界最深海域採礦的想法，而其他國家卻視之爲亟需的經濟機遇。無論誰在接下來幾年執掌該機構最高職位，將對這些決定擁有相當大的影響力。

Michael Lodge, the secretary-general at the International Seabed Authority since 2016, is urging the diplomats from the agency’s 168 member nations to elect him to a third four-year term. From that perch, he hopes to help the agency finalize environmental rules as it prepares to accept its first application, perhaps as early as this fall, to start industrial-scale mining in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Mexico.

2016年起擔任國際海底管理局秘書長的洛奇，正敦促來自該機構168個成員國的外交官，選他出任第3個4年任期。從這個高位，他希望協助該機構準備接受其第一份申請書時，確定環境規則，或許最早在今年秋季，以啓動在夏威夷與墨西哥之間太平洋海域的工業規模採礦。

His opponent, Leticia Carvalho, is an oceanographer and former oil industry regulator from Brazil. She has called for a more deliberative approach, arguing that several years of work likely remain to finish writing the rules. Her position is that no mining applications should be approved until that process is wrapped up.

他的對手萊蒂西亞．卡瓦略是來自巴西的海洋學家兼前石油工業監管人，她已呼籲採取更審慎的作法，認爲完成撰寫規則可能仍要幾年的作業。她的立場是，直到這個程序完成以前，不應批准任何採礦申請書。

In the midst of this already intense campaign, a former senior Seabed Authority executive filed a complaint with the United Nations in May, accusing Lodge and his top deputy of misusing agency funds.

在這場已很激烈的競選活動中，一名海底管理局前資深高管5月向聯合國投訴，指控洛奇跟他的最高副手濫用該機構資金。

Supporters of the two candidates each have accused the other side of attempting to influence the outcome of the election by offering to pay travel costs for delegates or to pay delegations’ past-due membership fees. Countries in arrears are generally prohibited from voting, and 38 nations were behind in payments as of May.

兩位候選人的支持者各自指控另外一邊，試圖爲代表支付旅費，或支付代表團的過期會費，來影響選舉的結果。欠費國家通常被禁止投票，截至5月有38國拖延付款。

文／Eric Lipton　譯／周辰陽