16 July 2025

ALAN HAYES

 

A DECISION last Thursday by the World Heritage Committee giving Australia six months to take action to avoid an In Danger listing for the Great Barrier Reef has specifically called for strong climate targets that would limit global warming to 1.5°C.

 

Specifically, the committee has urged Australia to cut greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for a 90% reduction by 2035, and to cease approving new fossil fuel projects. Additionally, the committee has called for enhanced measures to reduce pollution and sediment runoff from land-based sources into the Reef's waters. This means a 2035 target of net zero, not approving any new coal or gas projects, and rescinding the North West Shelf gas plant extension.

 

The Committee was particularly concerned about the impact of climate change, including the increasing frequency of coral bleaching events.

 

This repeated warning from the World Heritage Committee on the fate of the Reef and the 60,000 people who depend on it for their livelihood comes after six mass bleaching events in nine years.

 

This is not the first time UNESCO has raised concerns about the Reef's health and management.

 

The Federal Government says that it has invested heavily in protecting the Reef, including actions on climate change, water quality, marine life protection, and reducing debris and fishing impacts. But while ver, the government's addiction to fossil fuel continues, the Great Barrier Reef is in danger.

 

First Nations peoples are actively involved in ecosystem restoration and species protection projects, and collaborate with the Reef Trust Partnership.

 

Greens Leader and spokesperson on Climate and Energy, Larissa Waters said, “This has to be the last chance to take action to protect the Reef and the jobs that rely upon it from climate ruin. Over the last 30 years, the Reef has permanently lost half of its coral cover. We know that with 1.5 degrees of warming we will lose 90% of global coral reefs, and the world is on track to exceed that.

 

“Rising global emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels are boiling our oceans and killing the Great Barrier Reef. Yet no government has had the heart to put protecting the Reef ahead of protecting the profits of big polluters, who are also generous political donors.

 

“UNESCO has explicitly said gas facilities are damaging the Reef, so why did Labor approve the North West Shelf carbon bomb knowing half of the Reef’s coral cover has already been lost?

 

“Minister Watt must immediately cancel the draft approval for Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project, and stop the bipartisan trend of indiscriminately approving new coal and gas projects.

 

“New coal and gas mines have been approved like confetti by both Labor and Liberal federal governments, despite climate being the biggest threat to the Reef and the 60,000 people whose livelihood depends on it.

 

“Queenslanders and Australians have had enough of governments ruling for the billionaires and doing favours for big corporations.

 

“Only strong political action on the climate crisis can secure a future for the Great Barrier Reef, and that’s why the Greens, backed by scientists, will continue to call for the end of the fossil fuel addiction by both major parties.”

 

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said, “Investments in tackling local threats like unsustainable fishing and water pollution are welcome, but all the money in the world won’t save the Great Barrier Reef from being annihilated by the political stupidity of ripping open new coal and gas projects in a climate crisis.

 

“New research has confirmed alarming coral mortality rates of 92 per cent after last year’s bleaching event at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, marking it one of the highest coral mortality rates ever documented globally.

 

“Repeated marine heatwaves from the burning of fossil fuels are wreaking havoc across Australia’s coastlines: from record mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef to toxic algal blooms in South Australia. How much more death, destruction, and suffering must there be before the Albanese government takes climate action seriously?”

 

To help repopulate the reef, during mass coral spawning, researchers capture excess coral eggs and sperm from healthy reefs and rear millions of baby corals in specially designed floating pools. These young corals are then placed on damaged reefs, helping to repopulate and restore them. But more needs to be done to prevent damage from climate change, attributed to human activity and, in particular, the burning of fossil fuels.

 

The Reef is attributed with a diverse range of heritage values that contribute to its national and global significance. These include natural, Indigenous, and historic heritage values and other heritage values including social, aesthetic and scientific. Yet sadly, since 1985 approximately half of the Great Barrier Reef's coral cover has been lost.

 

Even though the Great Barrier Reef is likely to survive climate change if global average temperatures are constrained to 1.5-2oC above pre-industrial levels, it is already a very different system. Returning coral reefs to past configurations is no longer an option.

 

A full review of the Reef's management is scheduled for 2026, with Australia required to submit a progress report by February 2026.

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