Anything But Reality: Documents Reveal Australia's Lobbying Push To Avoid UNESCO "In Danger" Status For GBR
The Australian government carried out an international lobbying campaign to keep the Great Barrier Reef off a list of world heritage sites in danger, including dispatching politicians and officials to Unesco’s Paris headquarters and asking diplomats to gather intelligence on countries that could influence the decision. The campaign is revealed in documents released to the Greens after a parliamentary request and show how Australia sought to influence Unesco and members of the 21-country world heritage committee in the lead up to a crunch meeting in July last year.
A sustained strategy was developed by the government and approved by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, in December 2023 after the committee had warned in September the reef would be considered for the “in-danger” list at its next meeting in July 2024. Plibersek said the government was “proud of the work we’ve done to better protect the Great Barrier Reef, and pleased that UNESCO has acknowledged that work”. She said Labor had invested $1.2bn to better protect the reef and doubled funding for reef science. “We will continue to work with the World Heritage Committee and UNESCO to ensure the protection of the Reef and all World Heritage properties impacted by climate change, right around the globe.”
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The Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who requested the documents, said they revealed “a furious, coordinated and global lobbying effort to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the World Heritage in danger list”. He said he believed if the reef was placed on the in-danger list, it would draw attention to Australia’s fossil fuel export industry. "Successive pro-fossil fuel Australian governments know this, hence it’s not in their interest to see an in danger listing,” he said. “Australia simply cannot be the guardian of this greatest natural wonder of the world and also the third biggest exporter of fossil fuels on the planet. It is a stark choice between coal or coral.”
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Widespread mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral was first observed in 1998 and again in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Last summer’s bleaching was the most widespread with some areas seeing high levels of coral death. Whish-Wilson said it would be “farcical” if the reef continued to be kept off Unesco’s danger list, “and I suggest highly damaging to its reputation and standing as a global institution”.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/01/australia-tried-to-influence-other-countries-and-unesco-to-keep-great-barrier-reef-off-in-danger-list