Australia avoids Unesco downgrade of Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia (Kyodo News via AP)

Australia has garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations’ cultural organisation to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change.

Unesco had recommended that its World Heritage Committee add the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem off the north-east Australian coast to the World Heritage in Danger list, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures.