A lawyer heading up the asbestos industry’s global lobbying efforts has been urged to resign by asbestos disease victims.

In a 27 November 2020 letter sent to Emiliano Alonso, the president of the International Chrysotile Association (ICA), asbestos victims’ organisations in Belgium, France, Italy and the UK call on Alonso to respect the overwhelming scientific evidence that all forms of asbestos should be banned. It urges the ICA head to stop promoting the use of asbestos in developing countries and to resign immediately from his leadership role.

The ICA is funded by asbestos mining companies in Russia, Kazakhstan and Zimbabwe and asbestos dealers in India and Mexico. It lobbies to block and defeat bans on asbestos in developing countries, as well as efforts at the United Nations to secure safety protections regarding asbestos.

Emiliano Alonso is a Spanish lawyer whose consulting company, Alonso y Asociados, lobbies on behalf of clients at the United Nations, the European Union and elsewhere. Before taking up the position of president, he had been paid by the ICA for many years to promote the interests of the asbestos industry.