BRISBANE — Australia will take a group of ambassadors snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef Thursday in a last-minute lobbying effort to keep the World Heritage site off Unesco’s endangered list.
The United Nations cultural agency last month recommended that the world’s largest reef system — and a jewel in Australia’s tourism crown — be downgraded because of damage to the corals, chiefly from climate change.
That threat angered Australia and sparked an intense lobbying campaign ahead of Unesco’s virtual meeting hosted by China starting Friday, where a vote will be held on downgrading the reef to “World Heritage In Danger” status.
Ambassadors from the European Uni…
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