Nii Allotey Odunton
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Nii Allotey Odunton, a mining engineer from
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, was the Secretary-General of the
International Seabed Authority The International Seabed Authority (ISA) (french: Autorité internationale des fonds marins) is a Kingston, Jamaica-based intergovernmental body of 167 member states and the European Union established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of ...
, serving back to back four-year terms starting in 2009 and ending in 2017. He was succeeded by Michael W. Lodge.


Biography

Odunton has had more than 20 years of experience in the International Civil Service, with progressively increased responsibilities in marine resource policy formulation, particularly marine mineral resources. Since the establishment of the Authority in 1996 he has concurrently held several positions there at the policy-making level, as Deputy to the Secretary-General, head of the ISA Office of Resources and Environmental Monitoring, Interim Director-General of the Enterprise (the Authority’s
seabed mining Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated w ...
arm, not yet operational) and Secretary of the Authority’s Assembly. He has conceptualized and convened technical workshops of the Authority, on topics such as deep-seabed polymetallic nodule exploration, the development of environmental guidelines, and proposed technologies for deep-seabed mining of nodules. He earned a Master of Science degree in Mineral Economics and Mine Finance from the Henry Krumb School of Mines (1974), Columbia University. He then had a brief stint with private industry, spending a year (1974–75) as a Mine Planning Officer with the
Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...
Corporation at its Rose Mine,
Morgantown, Pennsylvania Morgantown is a census-designated place in Caernarvon Township, located in southern Berks County, Pennsylvania. It is located partially in Caernarvon Township in Lancaster County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 826 residents. H ...
.


Career with United Nations

Odunton first became associated with the United Nations in 1974, when he and two university colleagues were requested to prepare a paper on resource assessment of the polymetallic nodule deposits in the international sea-bed area to aid the work of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which was developing an international legal framework for the sea-bed and oceans as a whole. He later helped prepare background papers for the First Committee of the Conference, which elaborated the sea-bed provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...
, completed in 1982. At the
United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the a ...
in New York he served as an Economic Affairs Officer in its Department of International Economic Social Affairs (1980–1983), where he helped draw up an International Ocean Institute programme on management and use of seabed resources. Odunton subsequently (1984–88) held several other positions in the Department, including Chief of the Mineral Resources Section, Ocean Economics and Technology Branch. As head of this section he was responsible for reports to United Nations meetings on marine mineral resource development.Published reports and studies prepared by the Section or to which it contributed during this period included: *Economic impact of sea-bed mineral resources development in light of the Convention on the Law of the Sea / Jean-Pierre Lévy and Nii Allotey Odunton. ''Natural Resources Forum'', (8)2 Apr. 1984: 147-161. *''Onshore impact of offshore oil and natural gas development in the West and Central African region''. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies, no. 33. airobi:United Nations Environment Programme, 1984. *''Environmental management problems in resource utilization and survey of resources in the West and Central African region.'' UNEP Regional Seas reports and studies, no. 37. airobi:UNEP, 1984. *''Unconsolidated mineral deposits in the exclusive economic zone: a resource search methodology and its application to the West African Coastal Zone''. Document ST/ESA/139 - UN Sales Number: 85.II.A.3. New York: UN, 1985. *''Analysis of processing technology for manganese nodules''. Seabed Minerals Series, Vol. 3. London; Gaithersburg, Maryland: Graham and Trotman, in co-operation with the United Nations, 1986. *''Selection of Sites for Seabed Manganese Nodule Processing Plants''. Seabed Minerals Series, Vol. 5. London ; Boston assachusetts Graham and Trotman, 1989. Odunton was adviser to the Minerals Commission of the government of Ghana (1984–87), providing advice on national minerals policy, a revamping of the national mining code and on investment promotion in the gold sector. He also helped the government with procedural changes in the exploitation and marketing of gold and diamonds. As work went forward on the establishment of institutions envisaged by the Law of the Sea Convention, Odunton worked in the office of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary- General for the Law of the Sea,
Satya Nandan Satya N. Nandan, CF, CBE (July 10, 1936 – February 25, 2020), was a diplomat and lawyer from Fiji specializing in ocean affairs, was Chairman of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, where he served a two-year term commencing 1 ...
. Assigned to the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, he served as Deputy Secretary of Special Commission 3 on the mining code for polymetallic nodules and Secretary of Special Commission 2 on the Enterprise. In 1988, he became the first Officer in charge of the United Nations Office for the Law of the Sea in Kingston, Jamaica, where the Preparatory Commission met and the Seabed Authority was to establish its headquarters. He has been with the Authority continuously since it came into being in 1996. In June 2008 the Assembly of the Authority elected him by acclamation as the second Secretary-General of the Authority, succeeding Satya Nandan.


Personal

Born on 14 June 1951, Odunton was married to Naa Jama Odunton (deceased) and has four children.


References


External links


Biographical Note: Nii Allotey Odunton.
International Seabed Authority, Press Release SB/14/17, 5 June 2008.
Statement upon Election as Secretary-General of the ISA.
ISA, 5 June 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Odunton, Nii Allotey Ghanaian mining engineers Living people Bethlehem Steel people International Seabed Authority people Year of birth missing (living people)