Last week, Australia's Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek petitioned UNESCO to take the Reef off its list of endangered sites. The argument: we aren't as bad as the former (conservative) government, so you can trust we'll handle things correctly. You don't need to call us out.
"If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger," Plibersek said. "If this World Heritage site is in danger, then most World Heritage sites around the world are in danger from climate change."
While people might assume Australia is clean and green, climate action and targets are well behind the rest of the developed world. Its laughable net-zero by 2050 commitments, along with a nasty habit of digging things out of the ground, mean actions are going to have to speak louder than words at this stage.
"Australian government scientists reported in May that more than 90% of Great Barrier Reef coral surveyed in the latest year was bleached, in the fourth such mass event in seven years."
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