Great Barrier Reef avoids Unesco ‘in danger’ listing

Australia yesterday avoided having the Great Barrier Reef listed as an endangered world heritage site by UNESCO, despite extensive climate change-fuelled damage to the ecosystem's corals. 

After a concerted lobbying effort by Canberra, members of the World Heritage Committee voted to give Australian conservation efforts more time.  The group brushed aside Unesco experts' recommendation that the reef's World Heritage status be downgraded because of dramatic coral decline, instead telling Australia to report on the reef's status by 2022.

The 2,300-kilometre-long ecosystem has suffered three mass coral bleaching events since 2016, caused by rising ocean temperatures due to global warming. 

Despite the damage, the reef remains a vital tourist draw for Australia, which had feared an "in danger" label could deter post-pandemic visitors.