UNESCO: Great Barrier Reef should be listed as 'in danger'

Tue, June 22, 2021

The Great Barrier Reef has held World Heritage status since 1981

Australia's government has lashed out after a United Nations report claimed it had not done enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef from climate change.

UN body Unesco said the reef should be put on a list of World Heritage Sites that are "in danger" due to the damage it has suffered.

Key targets on improving water quality had not been met, it said.


Environment minister Sussan Ley said UN experts had reneged on past assurances.

She confirmed that Australia planned to challenge the listing, which would take place at a meeting next month, saying: "Clearly there were politics behind it; clearly those politics have subverted a proper process."

The World Heritage Committee is a 21-nation group chaired by China, which has had a vexed diplomatic relationship with Canberra in recent years.

"Climate change is the single biggest threat to all of the world's reef ecosystems... and there are 83 natural World Heritage properties facing climate change threats so it's not fair to simply single out Australia," said Ms Ley.

Environmental groups say the UN's decision highlights Australia's weak climate action, however.

"The recommendation from Unesco is clear and unequivocal that the Australian government is not doing enough to protect our greatest natural asset, especially on climate change," said Richard Leck, Head of Oceans for the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia.

The latest row is part of an ongoing dispute between Unesco and Australia over the status of the iconic site.

The reef, stretching for 2,300km (1,400 miles) off Australia's north-east coast, gained World Heritage ranking in 1981 for its "enormous scientific and intrinsic importance".

After Unesco first debated its "in danger" status in 2017, Canberra committed more than A$3 billion (£1.bn; $2.2bn) to improving the reef's health.

However, several bleaching events on the reef in the past five years have caused widespread loss of coral.

Great Barrier Reef suffers another mass bleaching

Racing to save one of the great wonders of nature

Scientists say the main reason is rising sea temperatures as a result of global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

In 2019, Australia's own reef authority downgraded the reef's condition from poor to very poor in its five-year update.

But Australia remains reluctant to commit to stronger climate action, such as by signing up to a net zero emissions target by 2050.

The country, a large exporter of coal and gas, has not updated its climate goals since 2015. Its current emissions reduction target is 26-28% of 2005 levels by 2030.

Analysis box by Shaimaa Khalil, Australia correspondent

These have been a tough few months for Australia and its climate change policy.

International pressure has been mounting on Scott Morrison's government to pledge net zero emissions by 2050 and the prime minister has time and time again refused to commit - including as recently as last week at the G7 meeting in the UK.

In his address to US President Joe Biden's virtual climate conference with global leaders in April, the prime minister said the country will "get there as soon as we possibly can," adding that "for Australia, it is not a question of if, or even by when, for net-zero but, importantly, how".

That in itself is at the heart of the problem. The "when" is as crucial as the "how" when it comes to climate change.

Scientists and global leaders say Australia is not doing enough or going fast enough.

The Great Barrier Reef row between Unesco and the Australian government is not new, but it will be quite embarrassing if the country's World Heritage Site is downgraded to the "in danger" list.

It's another reminder that if Australia does not get serious about tackling climate change with clear and decisive measures, this will affect its standing in the world, not just diplomatically and economically but culturally too.

Map of Great Barrier Reef

If the reef is downgraded, it will be the first time a natural World Heritage Site has been placed on the "in danger" list primarily due to impacts of climate change.

Listing a site as "in danger" can help address threats by, for example, unlocking access to funds or publicity.

But the recommendation could affect a major tourism destination that creates thousands of jobs in Australia and was worth A$6.4bn prior to the pandemic.

Australia rejects U.N. climate warning over Great Barrier Reef status

Adela Suliman
Tue, June 22, 2021

The Great Barrier Reef could have its prestigious World Heritage status downgraded after a report from the United Nations said Australia wasn't doing enough to protect it from the effects of climate change.

Australia, which attracts millions of snorkeling tourists and beachgoers each year, vowed on Tuesday to fight any change of status that could hurt its travel industry or see the U.N. step in to take tougher measures to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.N. World Heritage Committee's draft report on Monday found that there was "no possible doubt" that the network of colorful corals off Australia's northeast coast was "facing ascertained danger" due to climate change.


The committee proposed the Great Barrier Reef be added to UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger, a move that could create a monitoring role for UNESCO to put in place "corrective measures" to reduce emissions, which it said are harming the reef and its marine life. The report said such measures would take into account the fact that Australia "on its own cannot address the threats of climate change."

Image: Australia said Tuesday, June 22, 2021, it will fight a recommendation for the Great Barrier Reef to be listed as in danger of losing its World Heritage values due to climate change (Kyodo News / AP)

Any downgrade of the reef's World Heritage status could also reduce tourism revenue that the natural wonder generates and shake Australians' national pride, along with confidence in their government's ability to care for the coral reef ecosystem.

Australia's environment minister Sussan Ley said on Tuesday the country would fight the listing and that she and foreign minister Marise Payne had spoken to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay to express their government's "strong disappointment" and "bewilderment" at the proposal.

"This is a complete subversion of normal process," Ley said. "The reef is an icon internationally and we are here to fight for the reef and we are here to challenge the decision."

Ley said that although she recognized the threat of climate change to the reef, Australia would oppose the listing.

"This decision was flawed. Clearly there were politics behind it," she told reporters.

However, environmentalists welcomed the U.N. body's draft decision.

"The recommendation from UNESCO is clear and unequivocal that the Australian government is not doing enough to protect our greatest natural asset," Richard Leck, head of oceans for the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia said in a statement.

The listing would also serve as a wake-up call for the country, he added.

"The prospect of losing the World Heritage status of our reef will be a huge shock for many Australians, but it is a powerful message that our government needs to urgently lift its ambition."

Environmental group Greenpeace Australia Pacific also said the government had to work harder to give the reef a "fighting chance" and take its role as an "environmental custodian seriously," said spokesperson Martin Zavan.

"The UNESCO warning could not be any clearer, the Great Barrier Reef is in danger," Zavan said in a statement. "The situation for the reef could easily go from bad to disastrous."

The world's most extensive coral reef ecosystem — a network of 2,500 reefs covering 348,000 square kilometers — has been World Heritage-listed since 1981 and is held in awe by visitors for its dazzling coral and multicolored fish.

But scientists have repeatedly warned that its health is under increasing threat from climate change and rising ocean temperatures.

The U.N. report found that the site had suffered significantly from coral bleaching and mortality caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and last year.

"The long-term outlook for the ecosystem of the property has further deteriorated from poor to very poor," the draft report said, adding that the deterioration "has been more rapid and widespread than was previously evident."

The final decision, based on the report's recommendations, will be made in July by the World Heritage Committee and could see the reef added to the list of 53 other sites deemed in danger, in country's such as Afghanistan and Peru.