The Group of Seven countries on Friday agreed stringent environmental controls should govern deep-sea mining and that they would consent to such mining projects only if they did not seriously harm the marine environment.
"We determined that if there is deep-sea mining at all, it should only happen under the most strict environmental standards," Germany's environment minister, Steffi Lemke, told a news conference after a meeting of G7 ministers in Berlin.
The International Seabed Authority , a United Nations body, is drawing up regulations governing seabed mining in the high seas - areas outside any national jurisdiction. Until global rules are in place, sea bed mining is not allowed.
They also said that an ability to demonstrate that the deep-sea environment would not be seriously harmed would be critical for them to consider consenting to any future mining permits in the ISA council. Deep-sea mining involves sucking up potato-sized rocks rich in cobalt, nickel and other battery metals from the Pacific Ocean floor at depths of 4-6 km .
Many scientists and environmentalists have called for a ban on deep-sea mining, saying it could cause lasting damage to little understood habitats. The World Wildlife Fund's call for a moratorium has been joined by companies including carmaker BMW
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