GBR Marine Park Authority chairperson calls for “urgent national and global action” to limit global warming to 1.5˚C – a critical threshold for coral reefs.
2024 Outlook Report does not cover summer from hell, which included two cyclones, severe flooding and the recent devastating mass coral bleaching event
Dugong and turtle populations declining
The outlook for the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem had been deemed “very poor” even before the summer from hell, according to the most comprehensive report on the Reef’s health issued every five years by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Friday night.
The 2024 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report – the fourth in the series of comprehensive five-yearly reports on the Reef’s health and future – covers the period of January 2019 to December 2023, and therefore does not include the latest and possibly most devastating mass coral bleaching event – the fifth in just eight years – as well as two cyclones and subsequent flooding in northern Queensland. “Very poor” is the report’s lowest rating of any value.
GBRMPA chairperson Dr Ian Poiner wrote in his letter accompanying the Outlook report: “Even with the recent management initiatives to reduce threats and improve resilience, the overall future outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is very poor. These findings will be best addressed through urgent national and global action to deliver on international commitments that would limit temperatures to 1.5˚C of warming — or as close as possible.”
The report states: “The window of opportunity to secure a positive future for the Reef is closing rapidly, and strong, effective actions remain urgent at global to local scales.”
AMCS Great Barrier Reef Campaigns Manager Dr Lissa Schindler said: “The message from this important report could not be clearer – the future for our global icon is bleak unless our governments do more to protect the Reef.
“This is the most comprehensive report on the Great Barrier Reef’s health and outlook that comes out every five years. That it has found the outlook for our Reef is ‘very poor’ must be a call to arms, and it should be shared widely with the Australian public. It is yet another wake-up call for the Albanese Government, if it needed one, that it must act further and faster on climate change, which is devastating the Reef.
“The GBRMPA chair’s call for more national action on climate change follows similar pleas from the World Heritage Committee and UNESCO for the Albanese Government to increase climate commitments in line with keeping average global temperature rise to 1.5oC. That would mean Australia committing to net-zero emissions by 2035. The OECD’s International Energy Agency has said we cannot start any new fossil fuel projects if we are to keep global warming to 1.5oC. Australia must report back to UNESCO by February on further progress on actions to better protect the Reef.
“What is worrying is that the 2024 Outlook Report concluded the outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is ‘very poor’, even before the summer of hell, which saw two cyclones hit the reef, major flooding and the worst mass bleaching event on record. While seagrass and coral cover was seen to improve in the latest outlook report, it is likely not a true reflection of current condition post the summer we have just had.
“The report rates many actions to protect the Reef as ‘mostly effective,’ but the actions to tackle the biggest threats to the Reef scored poorly. Action to tackle climate change was rated ‘ineffective’, while actions to address major localised threats, poor water quality and fishing, were rated only ‘partially effective.’
“While some habitats and species, such as whales, are improving, several species groups are in poor condition, with some species, such as turtles and dugongs, declining.
“We know the Great Barrier Reef is resilient and can bounce back if local threats are reduced and more is done quickly on climate change. The question is will the Albanese government be the ones to do it.”