China demands Australia fix ‘serious failings’ on Great Barrier Reef, denies being behind UNESCO listing

China has hit back at Australia in a stoush over the Great Barrier Reef, demanding Canberra ‘face up’ to its ‘serious failings’.

Beijing has demanded Australia “face up to its serious failings” on the environment as it rejected suggestions it was behind a move to downgrade the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) last month moved to downgrade the reef’s health to “in danger”, citing multiple mass bleaching events and Australia’s “insufficient progress” on emissions reduction.

The federal government has claimed it was blindsided by the China-led World Heritage Committee (WHC), suggesting politics was behind its decision.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday insisted the decision was based on a “long-term evaluation” of the reef, demanding Canberra take “concrete measures” to improve its emissions reduction record.

“Australia should lead by example and respect the opinion of the professional evaluation institution,” he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has demanded Australia ‘face up’ to its ‘serious failings’ on the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Greg Baker / AFP

UNESCO has moved to list the Great Barrier Reef as ‘in danger’.

“It should face up to its serious failings in world heritage protection and earnestly step up preservation efforts instead of politicising technical issues, wantonly hurling unfounded accusations at UNESCO and its professional evaluation body and shifting the blame to others.

“Still less should it pressure the World Heritage Committee through innuendo and sensational media reports to sway the committee’s impartial and just decision.”

Bilateral relations between Australia and China have plunged to new depths over the past 18 months, seemingly prompted by Australia’s push for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19.

An escalating trade war was then exacerbated by the federal government using new powers to tear up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) signed between Beijing and Victoria.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lashed the “appalling” process leading to the reef decision, which Environment Minister Sussan Ley claimed was an abrupt reversal on previous assurances from the WHC.

But UNESCO official Fanny Douvere flatly rejected her claim, telling The Guardian decisions were not flagged ahead of time and scientific evidence showed there was “no doubt” the reef was in danger.

Scott Morrison has confirmed Australia is lobbying the international community to have the decision overturned. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Morrison confirmed last month Canberra was lobbying the international community to have UNESCO’s decision overturned.

But with 14 of the WHC’s 21 countries having signed up to the BRI, Nationals senator Matt Canavan conceded the “odds don’t look great” for Australia.

He said UNESCO’s draft decision cited Australian reports, claiming Canberra had “created a rod for our own back”.

“We have allowed our own government agencies to write the most exaggerated, Doomsday-like scenarios about the Great Barrier Reef,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.

“So it’s a bit hard for us to argue against this conclusion when we haven’t combated the misinformation that’s been spread around the reef for decades by our own government agencies.”

Originally published as China demands Australia fix ‘serious failings’ on Great Barrier Reef, denies being behind UNESCO listing