Australia Is Pushing Back Against UNESCO’s Plan To Label Great Barrier Reef ‘In Danger’ – Here’s What You Need To Know

Australia Is Pushing Back Against UNESCO’s Plan To Label Great Barrier Reef ‘In Danger’ – Here’s What You Need To Know

Share to Linkedin The Australian government is attempting to stave off UNESCO's plans to list the Great Barrier Reef as an endangered World Heritage Site, as a geopolitical battle brews over one of the world's best-known biodiversity hotspots which scientists fear is being irreversibly damaged by climate change. The Great Barrier Reef has witnessed three coral bleachings in the past five years. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia appears to have gained the support of 12 other countries on the UN body's World Heritage Committee to defer the decision until 2023, with a vote slated for Friday. Officials at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have said that quick action was needed to counter the effects of climate on the reef which has suffered three mass coral bleaching events in the past five years and has lost nearly half of its corals since 1995. With the UNESCO committee being chaired by China, the issue has gained a geopolitical color with the conservative Australian government accusing the Chinese government of influencing the decision, which Beijing has dismissed. The Australian government even warned that the UN body risks damaging its own credibility if it follows through with the