NHK has learned that climate, energy and environment ministers from the Group of Seven nations will craft an action plan to secure a stable supply of critical minerals.

It will entail a commitment of more than 1 trillion yen, or over 7.5 billion dollars, for joint mine development and other projects.

The ministers will open their meeting in Japan's northern city of Sapporo on Saturday amid growing competition among China and other countries to source sufficient volumes of critical minerals, such as lithium and nickel.

Such materials are indispensable to the manufacture of semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries and other products.

The envisaged action plan will also promote recycling of used EV batteries and machines to recover critical minerals.

The ministers are expected to issue a joint statement calling for the use of carbon-neutral synthetic fuels for internal combustion engine vehicles.

The statement is also likely to include a target for a 4-percent reduction in annual energy consumption by manufacturing and other activities.

But G7 member states are not on the same page regarding if and when electric vehicles should be mandated or coal-fired thermal power generation should be halted. Officials are discussing what kind of message the group can convey in their joint statement.