UNESCO want to assign endangered status to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia does not agree

In the words of UNESCO, climate change and the warming of the oceans have affected the Great Barrier Reef GBR, the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem. Hence, it is in danger. Frequent bleaching events pose a threat to the reef. There have been four incidents of bleaching over the last seven years and the first this year during a La Nina phenomenon. This typically brings cooler temperatures. Bleaching happens when the water warms, the corals lose the colorful algae living in their tissues and turn white. The UNESCO report recommended shifting the Great Barrier Reef to endangered status. It was the outcome of a 10-day mission in March to the reef off Australia's northeast coast that was added to the World Heritage list in 1981. However, Australia does not agree. Its environment minister said her government would lobby against this recommendation by a UN panel. Australia argues against Great Barrier Reef's recommended endangered status. The GBR contributes to the economy of Australia. Its heritage status attracts tourists and in case of an endangered tag, it could lose the heritage status. Prior to COVID-19, it attracted two million tourists every year and provided employment to thousands of people.

Officials from the UN cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that in the absence of an "ambitious, rapid and sustained" climate action, the GBR is in peril. Environment minister Tanya Plibersek said the new centre-left Labor party government that has come to power has already addressed several of the report's concerns, including action on climate change. She said the new government has legislated to commit Australia to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent below the 2005 level by 2030. The previous government had committed to a reduction of 26 percent to 28 percent by the end of the decade. As managing director Anna Marsden said - "The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder, she's got her challenges, but she's definitely not on her last legs in any case."

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The government of India will launch the world's longest luxury cruise. It will be a 50-day cruise and will sail from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh next year. This is an attempt of the government to push inland water development in the country. In an interview, the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said that the Ganga Vilas cruise will sail will cover 27 river systems and visit over 50 tourist sites including World Heritage Sites. The tentative date of starting is January 10 from Varanasi. The route will pass-through Kolkata and Dhaka and cover a distance of 4,000 km before reaching Bogibeel in Assam on March 1. This Ganga Vilas cruise will be the single largest river journey by a river ship in the world and will see both India and Bangladesh on the cruise map of the world. Govt to launch world's longest river cruise of 4,000 km from Varanasi next year.

The minister said development of coastal and river shipping, including cruise services, is one of the priorities of the government. He said – “besides promoting passenger traffic on rivers, the development of inland waterway systems would also facilitate trade and cargo services and give a boost to tourism around the areas along its route." The cruise will operate on a PPP model and the operators will decide ticket pricing. The route will cover almost 1,100 km in Bangladesh before re-entering India while sailing via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. This route has opened trade and transit channels between India and Bangladesh as it connects the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers.

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The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO monitors more than 18,000 glaciers across 50 of its World Heritage sites. It mentions Mount Kilimanjaro apart from the Dolomites in Italy and the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the US. The prediction of UNESCO could have serious repercussion. It predicts that around 50 percent of World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear unless the world takes corrective action. It may be possible to preserve them by keeping global temperature rise below 1.5C. UNESCO says World Heritage glaciers make up around 10 percent of the world's glacier areas overall. The worst part is that the world's best-known glaciers are gradually disappearing. That would be a major loss for global tourism. The report's lead author is Tales Carvalho. He estimates that World Heritage glaciers lose around 58 billion tonnes of ice every year on an average. In other words, the loss is equivalent to the total annual volume of water used in France and Spain together. It contributes to almost 5 percent of the global observed sea-level rise. Major glaciers including Mount Kilimanjaro and Dolomites to disappear by 2050, UN report says.

He adds that in order to prevent major glacier retreat worldwide it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions. UNESCO wants local authorities to make glaciers a focus of policy. They can achieve this by improving monitoring and research. They can also implement different measures of risk reduction. Tales Carvalho cautions - "As glacier lakes fill up, they can burst and can cause catastrophic floods downstream.” The timing of the report coincides with the COP27 event in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It would be Africa's first UN climate conference in six years. Incidentally, a recent study found that glaciers in Switzerland lost half of their volume in less than a century. Moreover, the rate of retreat of ice is on the rise. This is a matter of concern.

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