What does the UNESCO verdict mean for the Great Barrier Reef?

Posted by mmacbrid — 2 July 2015 at 12:18pm - Comments
Turtle swimming in reef with text: UNESCO verdict in
by. Credit: Jeremy Somerville

UNESCO has made their call on the status of the Great Barrier Reef. They have confirmed the Great Barrier Reef is still at risk and they will keep a close watch on our natural wonder. What does it mean, and what now?

The Australian government has been given 18 months - an effective probation period - to take meaningful action before the Reef’s World Heritage status will be under scrutiny again. Until the threat of massive coal mine and port expansions are removed, claims by the Australian government that they’re protecting the Reef are a sham. Now, UNESCO will be watching.

What does the Australian government have planned for their probation period?

The Australian Government has approved the construction of the devastating Carmichael mega-mine. Not only would this be the largest mine Australia has ever seen, its coal would produce a shocking 130 million tonnes of deadly carbon dioxide emissions every year.

If that’s not enough - their plans would increase coal transported straight through our Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, having a potentially disastrous impact on the Reef’s coral and animals from things like collisions, accidents, spills and coal dust.

Until the threat of massive coal mine and port expansion is removed, any claims by the Australian government that they are protecting the Reef are a sham. The government have a plan to protect the Reef - but it will not stop the building of a massive “carbon bomb” coal mine in the Galilee Basin, nor the expansion of the Abbot Point port to service it. Their plan doesn’t even properly address the biggest threat to the Reef - climate change.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Australian government are alone on the world stage in their relentless support for the coal industry and refusal to take seriously the threat of climate change. It’s time for Australian leaders to show some courage, cancel the Carmichael megamine licence and invest in real, sustainable jobs for the Reef.

There's no reason to go ahead with these Reef-wrecking plans

The science is clear: we can have coral or coal - but not both. And scientists aren’t the only ones who chose coral over coal - an opinion poll in Australia showed that 85% of Australians would rather see more protection for the Reef than the expansion of coal.

If that’s not enough - Reef-wrecking coal projects are also a terrible investment. The coal industry is in global decline, with orders and prices falling massively and projected to continue to do so. Eleven international financial institutions have also said that they will not invest in the proposed Carmichael mine and Abbot Point port expansion.

Yesterday in Bonn, Germany, our campaigner Jess Panegyres hammered home many of these points in her inspiring speech to UNESCO. Watch the video below:

It seems obvious that the project is a bad idea - but it’s not over yet. There are still banks and financial institutions around the world that could put money into this disastrous mine and port.

The millions of people around the world who are supporting the global campaign to save the Reef will not forgive any bank that backed its destruction because they were too short sighted or too deeply in the pocket of the coal industry to make the right choice. We’re not giving up on the Reef - and neither should you.

Join the movement now, and tell UK bank Standard Chartered to cut its ties to coal mining in the Great Barrier Reef.

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