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个小岛国，在国际海底管理局下任秘书长的选举发挥关键作用。（纽约时报）

Fight Over Seabed Agency Leadership Turns Nasty

国际海床机构主导权之争 领导人

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.

「可能付钱以协助获得选票的指控」、「高级外交官滥用机构资金的主张」、「一份可能诱使候选人退出竞争的工作机会」。

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.

这些不是一个不稳定国家的腐败选举诡计。相反的，它们是在一个联合国附属机构看似高雅客厅所做的努力，打算影响一些与启动海底金属采矿有关的决定，这些金属用于电动车。

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.

这些都是关于谁将成为「国际海底管理局」下任领导人险恶争夺战的一部分，该机构控制全球国际海域的采矿。

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.

诈欺的指控，凸显该机构即将到来议程的争议性质，以及其攸关数十亿美元。一些国家强烈反对在世界最深海域采矿的想法，而其他国家却视之为亟需的经济机遇。无论谁在接下来几年执掌该机构最高职位，将对这些决定拥有相当大的影响力。

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年起担任国际海底管理局秘书长的洛奇，正敦促来自该机构168个成员国的外交官，选他出任第3个4年任期。从这个高位，他希望协助该机构准备接受其第一份申请书时，确定环境规则，或许最早在今年秋季，以启动在夏威夷与墨西哥之间太平洋海域的工业规模采矿。

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.

他的对手莱蒂西亚．卡瓦略是来自巴西的海洋学家兼前石油工业监管人，她已呼吁采取更审慎的作法，认为完成撰写规则可能仍要几年的作业。她的立场是，直到这个程序完成以前，不应批准任何采矿申请书。

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.

在这场已很激烈的竞选活动中，一名海底管理局前资深高管5月向联合国投诉，指控洛奇跟他的最高副手滥用该机构资金。

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.

两位候选人的支持者各自指控另外一边，试图为代表支付旅费，或支付代表团的过期会费，来影响选举的结果。欠费国家通常被禁止投票，截至5月有38国拖延付款。

文／Eric Lipton　译／周辰阳