Australia Rejects Warning on Climate Risk to Great Barrier Reef

  • Government to oppose Unesco call to list site as in danger
  • Famous coral ecosystem has suffered from mass bleaching
The great barrier reef surrounded with corals in 2019.Photographer: Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images
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Australia’s government will oppose new efforts to categorize the Great Barrier Reef as endangered and facing mounting risks as a result of climate change.

The long-term outlook for the reef off the country’s northeastern coast, the world’s biggest coral ecosystem, “has deteriorated from poor to very poor” and a warming planet constitutes a serious threat, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a report.