G7 countries say strict environmental rules needed for deep-sea mining

German Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke attends a news conference during the meeting of the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers during the German G7 Presidency at the EUREF-Campus in Berlin, Germany May 27, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) - 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.