Carvalho’s election Friday at the annual summer meeting of the ISA Assembly in Kingston, Jamaica, ends the two-term tenure of Michael Lodge, a 64-year-old British attorney. Lodge aggressively pushed for the completion of regulations that would allow a potentially multibillion-dollar industry to begin, and drew scrutiny for his closeness to the mining companies the Authority regulates.
The vote by ISA member states — which came down 79-34 for Carvalho — also follows a contentious election campaign. It was marked by accusations that a key Lodge supporter tried to bribe Carvalho to drop out of the race in exchange for a top job at the ISA.
When Leticia Carvalho takes office on Jan. 1, she’ll become the first woman and the first scientist to helm the United Nations-affiliated organization responsible for the fate of 54% of the world’s seabed
In an interview last month, Carvalho told Bloomberg Green that as…


