Press release – 23 November, 2016Sydney, 24 November 2016 – Ahead of the Australian government’s expected submission of a report to the Unesco World Heritage Committee over the health of the Great Barrier Reef, Greenpeace Australia Pacific reef campaigner Shani Tager said:“The devastation of the Great Barrier Reef this year shows how useless the Australian government’s Reef 2050 plan is when it comes to protecting our national treasure.
“The Australian government is fiddling around the edges when it comes to protecting the reef. It is not dealing with climate change and the devastating impacts the planned expansion of the coal industry will have on the Great Barrier Reef.
“We cannot have a coal industry and a healthy Great Barrier Reef. If the government is serious about protecting the reef, a ban on new coal mines should be the first point in its report to Unesco.”
In 2015, Unesco placed the Great Barrier Reef on its watch list due to concerns about the Australian government’s management of the World Heritage Area. The government must regularly report on its progress in protecting the health of the reef.
Environment minister Josh Frydenberg will meet with state environment ministers on Friday 25 November in Sydney. The Unesco report submission is due on or before Thursday 1 December.
During this reporting period, in which 22% of the Great Barrier Reef’s total coral was killed in the worst ever bleaching event, the Australian government has…
Approved the Carmichael coal mine, the largest coal mine in Australia’s history
Overseen an increase in domestic carbon emissions
Approved seafloor dredging for a major coal port expansion in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
Cut hundreds of climate science jobs at CSIRO
Interfered with a UN report on climate change to remove mentions of the Great Barrier Reef
You can find a detailed timeline of the government’s actions here
On Monday, the former chairperson and chief executive of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
called for a ban on new coal mines
in order to conserve the health of the Great Barrier Reef.