Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will use climate talks in Peru to argue the Great Barrier Reef isn’t in danger.
She’ll also warn UNESCO it’s at risk of being duped by activists.
Ms Bishop will lobby members of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee not to list the reef as a World Heritage site in danger next year, saying this could set a dangerous precedent that could affect the home countries of committee members.
‘Every country that has an environmental icon that activists seize upon would be at risk,’ she will say, according to The Courier-Mail.
‘There is no justification for an in-danger listing by the World Heritage Committee.’
The World Heritage Committee will meet next June to decide whether to formally declare the reef as an asset in danger.
The conservation group WWF Australia says Ms Bishop’s position is disappointing, given Australia’s own scientists are saying the government’s efforts on reef protection are severely lacking.
