Reko Diq mine: Mineral extraction must respect human rights and the environment

• 36 civil society organisations (CSOs) have signed an open letter to the International Finance Corporation and Asian Development Bank, requesting that they reconsider financing for the Reko Diq copper mine in Balochistan, Pakistan. 
• The IFC and ADB are proposing to provide a combined $1 billion in finance to the controversial mine, with the ADB set to approve its investment on 21 August.
• The letter condemns the failure of project documents to identify the local Baloch people as Indigenous and highlights the ongoing conflict and lack of civil space in Balochistan as an extreme risk to rights defenders that will undermine stakeholder engagement on the project.
• CSOs also argue that transition minerals projects must respect human rights and the environment, citing recommendations from the UN Secretary General for human rights to be “at the core of all mineral value chains”.

Dozens of international civil society organisations are today publishing an open letter to international financiers of the Reko Diq copper mine in Balochistan, including the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank, calling on the banks to postpone funding until human rights and environmental concerns with the project are addressed. 

The letter (available at the link on the right hand side of this page) cites numerous concerns with the project, including the lack of civil society space in Balochistan, a failure to identify local Indigenous Peoples, impacts on local air and water quality, impacts on workers and livelihoods, climate impacts, and concerns with the project owner’s track record of running harmful mining projects.

“Regardless of its potential contribution to sustainable energy sectors, the Reko Diq mine is a highly dangerous project to be involved in. Financing this project would go against all of the commitments made by ADB, IFC and their shareholders to invest sensitively in fragile contexts, preserve the rights of Indigenous Peoples and prevent harms to local communities. There can be no just transition if mining projects like this trample human rights and exacerbate insecurities being faced by local people and the environment.” —Daniel Willis, Finance Campaign Manager, Recourse

Reko Diq may exacerbate threats to environmental defenders

The Reko Diq mine is located in an intensely militarised region, where civic space is very closed and where reprisals against civil society actors have increased in recent months. In April 2025 alone, human rights advocates reported the suspension of communication services, intimidation, and repression by security forces, the forced disappearance of 168 people, and the extrajudicial killing of 67 people. This has also been accompanied by a broader crackdown against human rights defenders in the region. UN human rights experts have classified the situation as a “serious human rights violation and an international crime”.

In this context, CSOs have called into question the assertions from the ADB and IFC that sufficient stakeholder engagement has been conducted, and that broad community support for the mine has been secured, to proceed with their financing of the Reko Diq project.

“In a highly militarised region, where critical voices are routinely silenced, investing in such a large-scale, controversial project is a recipe for disaster. The International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank are claiming to be consulting local communities. But when people are too afraid to even speak out or raise questions, consultations can’t be considered meaningful.” —Tala Batangan, Asia Regional Coordinator, Coalition for Human Rights in Development

Environmental concerns

The letter also cites significant environmental concerns regarding the Reko Diq mine. For example, Pakistan’s Supreme Court’s has previously highlighted Reko Diq’s potential to contribute to the exacerbation of water scarcity in Balochistan, and the continuing harms from previous attempts to develop the site, including cyanide poisoning and health impacts. The mine will also be powered by a power plant burning heavy fuel oil (HFO), a carbon intensive and highly polluting energy source.

As a result, the Reko Diq mine will contribute to approximately 850,000 tCO2e of carbon emissions, increasing Pakistan’s national greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to further exacerbating the country’s vulnerability to climate change. Despite this, RDMC has made no robust commitments to mitigate these emissions, claiming only that a solar plant will help in the future to reduce the need for HFO, and that other emissions mitigation technologies are constrained by cost.

ADB and IFC financing still pending

Although the IFC approved funding for Reko Diq in June, the agreement has yet to be signed and is still pending. ADB’s Board of Directors is set to meet on 21 August 2025 to discuss approval for the project. With this in mind, CSOs are requesting that both institutions pause their funding for the project, until the human rights and environmental concerns highlighted in the letter have been adequately addressed.

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For media:

A full media briefing on the Reko Diq mine is available here.

For further info and quotes please contact:

• Daniel Willis (Finance Campaign Manager – Recourse) – dan[at]re-course.org, +447595054391
• Lorena Cotza (Communications Lead – Coalition for Human Rights in Development) – lcotza[at]rightsindevelopment.org, +39 3285761056

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Photo: Landscape in Balochistan province, Hingol National Park. Credit: Sten Lundbo (CC BY SA 4.0)