Reef report fails to acknowledge this precious natural landmark is at risk

Last week, the government submitted a report to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee about the state of the Great Barrier Reef.

This report was clearly designed to once again postpone the inevitable: international acknowledgement that our most precious natural icon is in danger.

It makes you wonder: what alternative universe is our federal government living in?

The federal government is not acknowledging the extent to which the Great Barrier Reef is under threat.Credit:

The authors of this report have certainly been drinking the Kool-Aid. Apparently, someone believes that the “outstanding universal value of the reef remains intact across all four natural World Heritage criteria for which it was inscribed on the World Heritage List.” Conveniently, the actual criteria do not appear in the report.

The report is full of upbeat assertions about coral recovery over the past two years (much of which has been in a cooler La Nina period).

Buried in the appendix, one finds that most of the so-called recovery has been of just a single genus of coral, Acropora, the “fast to grow, first to go” coral that will be particularly vulnerable to the next marine heatwave. Recent reports of bleaching seen on reefs off Port Douglas indicate we might not have to wait too long for this to happen.

The reef is in “very serious trouble” from bleaching and other events.Credit: IStock

The report contains very few numbers and no maps of the damage wrought by the three bleaching events in the past six years. Indeed, even the word “bleaching” is used sparingly, frequently replaced by a much vaguer “disturbance”.

The truth is, our reef is in very serious trouble. It is utterly disingenuous and irresponsible to spin it as anything else.

A study published on the same day the UNESCO report was delivered concludes that even 1.5-degree warming could spell catastrophe for 99 per cent of the world’s reefs. This is a far more pessimistic outlook than previous estimates that this disaster would happen at 2 degrees.

The hypocrisy of the federal government is breathtaking. On the one hand, it acknowledges that climate change is the greatest threat to the reef, but on the other, continues to actively develop and subsidise the fossil fuels causing the problem.

Efforts to reduce the damaging crown of thorns starfish will be wasted if nothing is done to deal with climate change.Credit: Jason South

The much trumpeted $1 billion of funding (timing unspecified) to improve water quality on the reef and reduce threats such as the crown of thorns starfish, will be a complete waste of our hard-earned cash unless the climate problem is addressed. We might as well take a dinghy out from Port Douglas and chuck the money in the sea.

Australia’s status as an international pariah on climate policy will not be overcome by spin. A net zero target by 2050, setting aside the fact that the government doesn’t actually have a credible plan to achieve it, is at least a decade too late to save the reef.

Australia’s 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels, if adopted globally, would lead to up to 4 degrees warming. If this happens, it won’t just be the coral reefs facing complete disaster.

If the federal government was actually serious about its responsibility of stewardship for the Great Barrier Reef it would adopt ambitious emission reductions targets and transition away from fossil fuels.

Based on the science, Australia’s sky-high emissions, and our unrivalled opportunities for clean energy, Australia should aim to reduce our emissions to 75 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, to do our fair share of action to avoid catastrophic climate change.

We can still give the reef the best chance of returning to the vibrant, diverse and healthy underwater world of decades past, but every year of delay brings it closer to the brink.

The Coalition can start by pulling its head out of the clouds and addressing climate change with the seriousness it demands.

Lesley Hughes is a Climate Council councillor, climate change scientist and distinguished professor of biology at Macquarie University.