Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be listed as a world heritage site “in danger”, a UN panel recommended on Tuesday, saying the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem has been significantly affected by climate change and warming oceans. The reef is threatened by frequent bleaching events, including four in the past seven years and the first this year during the La Nina phenomenon, which usually brings cooler temperatures.
Bleaching occurs when the water gets too warm, causing the corals to expel the colored algae living in their tissues and turn white. “The resilience (of the reef) to recover from the impacts of climate change is substantially compromised,” said a report by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) scientists who visited the reef in March.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government would push UNESCO not to list the reef as endangered because climate change threatens all coral reefs around the world. “We will make it clear to UNESCO that there is no need to single out the Great Barrier Reef in this way,” Plibersek said during a media briefing. “The reason why UNESCO has designated a site as at risk in the past is because they wanted more government investment or more government action, and since the change of government, both of those things have happened.”
Australia’s recently elected Labor government has pledged to spend A$1.2 billion ($800 million) over the next few years to protect the reef. Parliament approved the law on net zero emissions by 2050 in September. Canberra has lobbied for years to keep the reef – which contributes A$6.4 billion ($4.3 billion) to the economy – off the endangered list, as it could lead to it losing its heritage status, which would take some of the shine off its tourist appeal. Last year, Australia avoided listing the reef as “in danger” after intense lobbying by the previous government led UNESCO to delay the decision until this year.
