US insurance giant Liberty Mutual will face pressure from the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment over plans to start work on a new coal mine it owns in central Queensland, which locals say undermines the insurer's commitment to environmental issues and human rights.

The mine in question is the Baralaba South mine, 200 kilometres inland from Gladstone, which has reserves of coal used in the pulverised coal injection (PCI) method of steel making. It is on a flood plain close to the Dawson River.