Australia fights UN downgrade of Great Barrier Reef health

A file picture of the Great Barrier Reef. Pic/AP

Australia said Tuesday it will fight against plans to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status due to climate change, while environmentalists have applauded the UN World Heritage Committee's proposal.

The committee said in a draft report on Monday that "there is no possible doubt" that the network of colourful corals off Australia's northeast coast was "facing ascertained danger". The report recommends that the world's most extensive coral reef ecosystem be added to UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger, which includes 53 sites, when the World Heritage Committee considers the question in China in July.

The listing could shake Australians' confidence in their government's ability to care for the natural wonder and create a role for UNESCO headquarters in devising so-called ‘corrective measures', which would likely include tougher action to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. Any downgrade of the reef's World Heritage status could reduce tourism revenue that it generates because fewer tourists would be attracted to a degraded environment and dead coral.

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