Reef hijack gets plenty of support

As federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has travelled the world to argue for fair practice from UNESCO on the Great Barrier Reef, she has been shadowed by a growing list of agitators keen to see the natural wonder added to the list of World Heritage assets in danger. Celebrities, green groups and leading reef scientists have written to the World Heritage Committee in recent weeks urging it to adopt a draft recommendation at its meeting in China on Friday to put the reef on the in-danger list.

On Wednesday there was another letter of support for UNESCO to take action. Signatories included Prince Albert II of Monaco and Absolutely Fabulous actor Joanna Lumley. Earlier correspondence was signed by businessman Geoff Cousins, Atlassian chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett. The Australian Greens sent their own letter: “Declaring the Reef ‘in Danger’ is the greatest signal we can send that climate action is needed.”

None mentioned the latest Australian Institute of Marine Science research that shows coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef is back to where it started when a long-range monitoring program began in the early 1980s. An absence of cyclones and lack of bleaching this year have led to a dramatic rebound in coral growth. Graphs produced by AIMS show a rebound in coral cover across the board in the northern, central and southern reef areas. The recovery is confirmation that reef resilience has been maintained despite recent episodes of bleaching and cyclone damage.

AIMS chief executive Paul Hardisty said the survey showed the reef experienced coral growth during periods of low disturbance but the increased occurrence of severe weather events had stifled that growth in recent years. Reef scientists are worried that if bleaching episodes become more frequent, the ability of the reef to bounce back will be compromised.

All parties agree that climate change is a long-term threat to coral reefs everywhere. The federal government’s argument with UNESCO is not about the need to safeguard the future health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef. It is about the danger of allowing the World Heritage Committee to hijack a national asset to make a bigger international point.

Allowing an in-danger listing will effectively result in national policy on the environment and climate change being outsourced to supervision by unelected officials from the UN and World Heritage Committee.