‘Global wonder’ should be on danger list, report says

A UN-backed mission to the Great Barrier Reef concluded the world’s biggest coral reef system should be placed on a list of world heritage sites in danger. The long-awaited report on the 10-day mission that took place in March said climate change was presenting a “serious challenge” to the values that saw the reef inscribed as a global wonder in 1981. Ocean temperatures over parts of the Great Barrier Reef reached record levels last month, sparking fears of a second successive summer of mass coral bleaching.

The reef mission was carried out at the request of former federal environment minister Sussan Ley after the former government successfully lobbied against a 2021 Unesco recommendation the reef should be put on the “in danger” list.