Australia will contest Unesco’s plan to include the Great Barrier Reef on the list of endangered World Heritage sites due to its degradation caused by climate change, the government announced on Tuesday (June 22).
Unesco on Monday released a preliminary report recommending downgrading the status of the Great Barrier Reef, listed as World Heritage since 1981, because of its deterioration, largely due to the recurrence of episodes of coral bleaching, a consequence of climatic upheavals.
“I agree that global climate change poses the greatest threat to coral reefs but it is wrong, in our opinion, to designate the best managed reef in the world for a list. [de sites] in danger “said Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley.
Australia will organize itself to contest this project, which it considers a “About-face” after “Previous assurances from UN officials”, said Mme Ley in a press release, one month before the next session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled for July from China.
“Bad signal”
According to her, Unesco’s decision does not take into account the billions of dollars spent to try to protect the barrier, located in the north-east of Australia. It “Sends the wrong signal to countries that are not making the investments we are making in the protection of coral reefs”, argued the minister.
Australia has not set a carbon neutral target by 2050. Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country hopes to achieve it ” as soon as possible “, without jeopardizing jobs and businesses. Australia is one of the world’s largest importers of coal and natural gas.
For the environmental organization Climate Council, the Unesco recommendation covers “Shame on the federal government, which remains passive in the face of the decline of the coral reef instead of protecting it”. It “Shows clearly and unequivocally that the Australian government is not doing enough to protect our greatest natural asset, especially against climate change”, commented for his part the responsible for the oceans for the Australian WWF, Richard Leck.
Three episodes of bleaching in five years
Besides its invaluable natural or scientific point of view, it is estimated that the coral reef, which stretches over 2,300 kilometers in length, generates US $ 4.8 billion in revenue for Australia’s tourism sector. In December, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said climate change was the greatest threat to natural wonders and the Great Barrier had joined the list of sites classified as “critical”.
The Great Barrier Reef has already experienced three episodes of bleaching in five years, while half of the corals have disappeared since 1995 due to the rise in water temperature. Bleaching is a wasting phenomenon which results in discoloration. It is caused by the increase in the temperature of the water, which causes the expulsion of the symbiotic algae which gives the coral its vivid color.
The barrier has also been affected by several cyclones and is also threatened by agricultural runoff and by the purple acanthaster, a coral-eating starfish.