UN Report Recommends Great Barrier Reef Be Added To World Heritage 'In Danger' List

The United Nations has again recommended the Great Barrier Reef be added to the World Heritage 'in danger' list.

The UNESCO report handed down in late November, follows an official visit by the UN in March to monitor threats to the reef including mass bleachings and increased water acidity.

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Although Australia's climate policies have improved since Labor took office, its policies and actions fall short of those recommendations made by the UNESCO report.

"This is one of the first big tests for the new Australian government to show the world that on climate and nature we are really switching from being laggards to leaders," said Richard Leck from WWF-Australia.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and special envoy for the Great Barrier Reef Nita Green said in a statement that, "since the Monitoring Mission undertook their work, the government has engaged in constructive dialogue with UNESCO, and taken a number of significant steps forward."

Ms Plibersek said the Unesco report is based on the previous government's reef management strategy and not Labor's commitments.

"We’ve committed $1.2 billion in coming years to looking after the reef including an extra $204 million in the most recent budget alone. That allows us to do things like deal with invasive species like crown of thorn starfish.

"It allows us to tackle water quality issues. It allows us to work more closely with traditional owners on reef management. It allows us to deal with overfishing," she said.

Getting to the crux of the debate, the environment minister said that: "Every coral reef in the world is in danger."

"I understand why Australians are very concerned to hear overnight about this reactive monitoring mission report and the recommendation to Unesco that the reef be listed as endangered, but I would say this – if the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger.

"If this world heritage site is in danger, then most world heritage sites around the world are in danger from climate change," she said.

Ms Plibersek reiterated that the Federal Government acknowledges that "our natural environment is at risk from climate change, and we need to work together globally to deal with those risks."

The report determined that regular mass bleaching’s on the Great Barrier Reef are the result of greenhouse gas emissions.

While the water's acidity which has stunted coral growth, making them more susceptible to damage is also the result carbon dioxide emissions.

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