‘Second to none’: Australia responds to UNESCO’s Great Barrier Reef warning

The federal government has defended its efforts to preserve the World Heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef, arguing all the world’s coral reefs are threatened by climate change, not just Australia’s, and global action on emissions is needed to protect them.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation issued a draft recommendation in June that the Great Barrier Reef should be listed as an “in danger” World Heritage site.

There have been five mass coral bleaching events since 1998 that affected more than 98 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef.Credit: Eddie Jim

Australia in effect won a stay of execution in July by garnering enough international support, with 12 of the 21 countries on the UNESCO committee backing its proposal to delay a vote.

Climate change is driving a dramatic increase in coral bleaching, which occurs when the sea surface temperature is too hot for too long. There have been five mass coral bleaching events since 1998 that affected more than 98 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef.

As part of the UNESCO process, Australia was required to provide an update on the reef’s health, which was published on Thursday.

The federal government report acknowledged that climate change was the reef’s greatest threat to survival but said “the most effective response to this threat is successful global action to reduce emissions”.

It noted that Australia’s emissions comprised just 1.3 per cent of the global total and said “Australia’s efforts to reduce its own emissions would have virtually no impact on the long-term health and resilience of the reef”.

All World Heritage sites could potentially be listed as in danger because they were “faced with major threats which could have deleterious effects on [their] inherent characteristics”, the report said.

Australia had “all three ingredients for success” on climate policy: emissions reduction targets, a plan to achieve them, and a successful track record, it said.

Releasing the report on Thursday, Environment Minister Sussan Ley said global action on climate change was needed to protect the 29 World Heritage-listed coral reefs on UNESCO’s books.

“Reefs around the world are under pressure from warming oceans and in the face of that the Morrison government’s leadership in reef management and reef science is second to none,” Ms Ley said.

Bleaching is forecast to reduce coral cover by 95 per cent across the globe if there is 2 degrees of global warming, and by 70 per cent if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees. According to analyst Climate Action Tracker, if all countries were to follow Australia’s approach, global warming would rise as much as 3 degrees.

Under the Paris Agreement, Australia has committed to cut emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030, with a pledge to hit net zero by 2050. It says it is currently on track for a 30 per cent reduction by 2030.

UNESCO’s draft ruling last year said it was critical for Australia to commit to climate action consistent with global efforts required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s five-year report card for the reef, issued in 2019, downgraded its health status from “poor” to “very poor”. The federal and Queensland governments have since promised a total of $4 billion for reef conservation.

Last year, Ms Ley labelled the UNESCO process politicised and said it didn’t follow due process to include a site visit and failed to take into account recent policies to improve water quality.

Ms Ley said on Thursday Australia’s investment in climate adaptation technologies, water quality improvement, crown-of-thorns starfish control and reef habitat restoration, “are strengthening the resilience of the reef”.

UNESCO will consider Australia’s response and make a draft ruling before a panel of member countries meets in Russia in June.

WWF-Australia’s head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck welcomed funding commitments, which include a $1 billion top-up by the federal government last week, but called for greater climate action.

“We can’t expect the global community to commit to climate action to save the reef if we won’t take it on here,” Mr Leck said.

He said the most important step the government needed to take was to commit to a climate policy consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Australian Marine Conservation Society Great Barrier Reef campaign manager Dr Lissa Schindler questioned whether Australia’s report would change UNESCO’s mind.

“It’s great to get the extra funding for water quality but it will be a Band-Aid if we don’t address climate change,” Dr Schindler said. “Australia is the custodian for the reef, it should be stepping up on climate change.”

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