The package comes as the Morrison government tries to convince the World Heritage Committee it is making every effort to preserve the reef.
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Friday’s decision from the World Heritage Committee doesn’t change the irrefutable evidence that dangerous impacts are occurring on the Great Barrier Reef.
The development is significant for several reasons – not least that Australia’s progress under the Paris Agreement is being linked to its stewardship of the reef.
National governments are using political lobbying and empty symbolic efforts to stave off an “in danger” listing for their World Heritage sites.
Without a clear framework within which decisions can be made, heritage resources will forever be threatened by development.
Throughout the world, unique sites of natural and cultural heritage are protected for future generations. But what about sites on the moon that represent the beginning of the human space age?
Lake Turkana’s status as a World Heritage Site hasn’t protected it from environmental threats.
Amid fears for the world’s coral reefs, the UN World Heritage Committee has issued its most wide-ranging statement so far on protecting heritage sites from climate. But the problem doesn’t end there.
The government’s latest report to UNESCO on the Great Barrier Reef paints a rosy picture.
Australia was spared the ignominy of having the Great Barrier Reef listed as officially in danger. But comments from member countries of the World Heritage Committee show the world is still worried about it.
Whether it’s on the official “in danger” list or not, the Great Barrier Reef is clearly under threat. UNESCO has placed its faith in Australia, but without urgent action the problems will not go away.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has spared Australia’s blushes by opting not to list the Great Barrier Reef as ‘in danger’. But it has also demanded that Australia make good on its plans to save it.
Top contributors
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PSM, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
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Distinguished Professor, James Cook University
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Associate Professor in Physics, James Cook University
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Professor, The University of Queensland
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Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
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Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Pretoria
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Professorial Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
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Chartered Consultant in Hydrology and Water Resources, Visiting Research Fellow, King's College London
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Professor of Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi
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Professor of Social Sciences, University of Exeter
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Professor of Human Geography, University of Exeter
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Professor of Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy and Planning, Climate + Energy,, University of Michigan
