Six-month 'in danger' warning for Great Barrier Reef repeated at UN meeting
ABC News
July 10 2025
UNESCO has again warned Australia to provide a report on the status of the Great Barrier Reef, saying its long-term outlook remains "very poor".
In short:
The World Heritage Committee has given Australia another six-month warning that it could list the Great Barrier Reef "in danger".
Last year the committee noted "with utmost concern" that the Great Barrier Reef had suffered four mass coral bleaching events since 2016.
What's next?
Australia has been requested to provide a progress report by February 2026 on the reef's status.
Australia has again been warned it has six months to avoid a possible "in danger" listing for the Great Barrier Reef from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.
In a draft decision released overnight, the UN body noted with "utmost concern" that the long-term outlook for the world's largest reef remained "very poor".
"Whilst recent recovery in some parts of the ecosystem, including improvements in coral cover and seagrass meadows, is encouraging and demonstrates the Reef retains resilience, the Outlook Report concludes that the capacity of the reef to tolerate and recover is being compromised by a rapidly changing climate," the committee wrote.
It repeated its request that Australia submit an updated report by February 2026 on the state of the reef, including the "full impacts" of a 2024 mass coral bleaching — and said it could consider adding the reef to its List of World Heritage in Danger at its 48th session next year.
The committee also expressed "regret" that water quality targets for the reef had not been met, though it welcomed several actions taken by the government attempting to repair the world heritage site.
Further breakdown of Great Barrier Reef 'inevitable', report says
A rapidly closing "window of opportunity" to protect the Great Barrier Reef needs to be addressed with urgent action, its governing authority says.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Environment Minister Murray Watt said the government had provided its progress report earlier this year to the World Heritage Committee.
"We welcome the recognition of Australia's efforts to improve water quality, support and partner with Reef Traditional Owners, deliver sustainable fisheries management and increase the Reef’s resilience to climate change," the spokesperson said.
They said the draft decision had been agreed overnight without discussion or amendment.
Reef under warning cloud for years
Australia has received repeated warnings in recent years that its natural wonder was at risk of being placed on the in danger list.
Last term, the government raced to escape an in danger recommendation after reassuring UNESCO that its plan to restore the reef was working, and committing another round of funding.
In 2021, then-environment minister Sussan Ley also fought off a recommendation to list the reef in danger under the Morrison government, avoiding potential global embarrassment.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee noted "with utmost concern" that the Great Barrier Reef had suffered four mass coral bleaching events since 2016, including an unprecedented bleaching in 2022 during a normally cooler La Niña period.
Environment Minister Murray Watt is in Paris for the committee's session, advocating for the Karratha Murujuga rock site to be added to the World Heritage List.
Environmentalists have argued the federal government's recent decision to approve the extension of a nearby major gas facility by 40 years placed that listing at risk.
The government has argued that a draft decision by UNESCO cited concerns that emissions from the North West Shelf project could degrade the 40,000-year-old carvings.
Greens leader Larissa Waters said in light of the Great Barrier Reef warning, the gas project's extension should be cancelled.
"This has to be the last chance to take action to protect the reef and the jobs that rely upon it from climate ruin," she said in a statement.
"Over the last 30 years, the reef has permanently lost half of its coral cover. We know that with 1.5 degrees of warming we will lose 90 per cent of global coral reefs, and the world is on track to exceed that."
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In Danger Warning For Great Barrier Reef Repeated (Read 44 times)
