Australia Manages To Keep 'World Heritage' Status For Great Barrier Reef

UNESCO had recommended that its World Heritage Committee add the world's largest coral reef ecosystem off the northeast Australian coast to the World Heritage in Danger list, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures.

Australian-proposed amendments to the draft decision at a committee meeting in China on Friday would have deferred the 바카라�in danger바카라� question until 2023.

But Norway moved amendments that put the reef back on the committee's agenda at its annual meeting next June.

In the meantime, a monitoring mission will visit the reef to determine how the impact of climate change can be managed.

Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley on Friday told a virtual meeting that downgrading the reef's status before the committee had finalised its own climate change policy made no sense.

바카라�Delegates, we ask only two things: time for experts to see first hand our commitment to the reef, its present condition and our management, and for the final climate policy to provide a consistent framework for addressing the impacts of climate change on all World Heritage properties,바카라� she said from Australia, where she in in quarantine after lobbying delegates in Europe and the Middle East on the decision.

In 2014, Australia was warned that an 바카라�in danger바카라� listing was being considered rather than being proposed for immediate action.

Australia had time to respond by developing a long-term plan to improve the reef's health called the Reef 2050 Plan.

Since then, the reef has suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and last year. The bleaching damaged two thirds of the coral.

Australia reacted angrily last month when the draft decision was published to remove the network of 2,500 reefs covering 348,000 sq km (134,000 square miles) from the World Heritage list it joined 40 years ago for its 바카라�outstanding universal value.바카라� The 바카라�in danger바카라� listing is one step away from losing all World Heritage standing.

바카라�This decision was flawed. Clearly there were politics behind it,바카라� Ley said at the time.

Many in Australia's conservative government saw the move as an attempt to pressure it into committing to reducing the nation's greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 and to stop allowing coal mines to be expanded.

In arguing for the reef's downgrade, UNESCO World Heritage Centre's marine programme coordinator, Fanny Douvere, referred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's conclusion that global emissions needed to fall to zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

바카라�Accelerated action on climate change on all possible levels, in accordance with the 1.5 degree target under the Paris Agreement for Climate Change, and the recovery of the property from poor water quality are both vital and are urgent to secure the outstanding universal value of the Great Barrier Reef for present and for future generations,바카라� Douvere said.

Greenpeace said in a statement that the committee had missed an opportunity to shine a light on Australia's neglect of a natural wonder.

The Chinese host of the committee meeting in the city of Fuzhou this week defended the proposed 바카라�in danger바카라� listing against Australian government suspicion that China influenced the finding for political reasons.

바카라�Australia, as a member state of the World Heritage Committee, should ... attach importance to the opinions of the advisory bodies and earnestly fulfill the duty of World Heritage protection instead of making groundless accusations against other states,바카라� said Tian Xuejun, the Chinese vice minister of education and the president of this year's session.

China's representative said during the debate that his nation 바카라�supports the emerging consensus바카라� to defer the 바카라�in danger바카라� question.

Before the committee's ruling, Jodie Rummer, a research fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said the 바카라�in danger바카라� designation was needed to get Australia to act on climate change.

바카라�I think that's the wake-up call that we need here in Australia, very much so,바카라� Rummer said. 바카라�It's the wake-up call that we need to cut our emissions and commit to net zero. It's the wake-up call that we need to really put that spotlight on the Great Barrier Reef.바카라�

The deferral sidelines Australia's management of the reef as an issue at elections due by May next year at which the government will seek a fourth three-year term.