Great Barrier Reef should be listed as ‘in danger’, Unesco says

Great Barrier Reef should be listed as ‘in danger,’ UNESCO says

The Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage Sites over the impact of climate change on the planet’s largest living ecosystem, a UN committee recommended on Tuesday. The UN’s cultural body says the world’s biggest coral reef system should be downgraded to the list at a meeting next month. It is urging Australia to take “accelerated action” on global warming.

The recommendation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – which sits under UNESCO – prompted an angry response from Australia, which said it had been blindsided by the “flawed” move and the Australian government said it would “strongly oppose” the recommendation. The committee said the long-term outlook for the world’s biggest coral reef system had deteriorated and action was needed to counter the effects of climate change. Australia’s Environment Minister Sussan Ley said Canberra would challenge the recommendation, saying it went against advice given just a week ago, and defended Australia’s protection of the reef. “This is a complete subversion of normal process,” Ms Ley said. The latest row is part of an ongoing dispute between Unesco and the Australian government over the status of the reef, which gained World Heritage ranking in 1981.

Unesco had debated whether it should go on the “in danger” list in 2017. Rising sea temperatures as a result of global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels are the main reason the reef has been severely damaged, scientists say. There have been several “bleaching” events on the reef in the past five years.