Australia on Friday garnered enough international support to defer an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change.
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UNESCO had recommended that its World Heritage Committee add the world's largest coral reef ecosystem off the northeast Australian coast to the World Heritage in Danger list, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures.
Australian-proposed amendments to the draft decision at a committee meeting in China on Friday would have deferred the "in danger" question until 2023.
Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley told the virtual meeting that downgrading the reef's status before the committee had finalized its own climate change policy made no sense.
"Delegates, we ask only two things: time for experts to see first hand our commitment to the reef, its present condition and our management, and for the final climate policy to provide a consistent framework for addressing the impacts of climate change on all World Heritage properties," she said from Australia, where she in quarantine after lobbying delegates in Europe and the Middle East on the decision.
