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Yet, we and the rest of the world are barrelling toward global warming of well over 2 degrees, which would be fatal for more than 99 per cent of all coral reefs, let alone the Great Barrier Reef.

Recently, the Queensland government announced its ambitious 10-year energy plan, which will see $62 billion invested in clean energy and support thousands of new jobs in the renewables sector. It also raised its renewable energy target to 70 per cent by 2032.

While this makes the Sunshine State the country’s leader on the 2030 renewable energy targets, our much-loved reef doesn’t have a decade to wait. It has experienced those six mass-bleaching events since 1998, including this year’s – the first to ever occur during a La Niña weather event.

The federal government’s response to the report’s proposal has been to downplay the urgency until the World Heritage Committee makes its recommendation, claiming it has taken “strong action on climate change by legislating an emissions-reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030 with a clear path to net zero by 2050”.

The UNESCO recommendation to list the Great Barrier Reef as being in danger underscores what we stand to lose as Australians with unabated global warming.

People from across Australia and the world flock to this natural beauty, which also supports tens of thousands of tourism jobs that depend on a healthy and vibrant reef. At stake is one of the natural wonders of the world and its massive social, economic, cultural and ecological value.

Before COVID, the reef supported more than 60,000 jobs and generated more than $6 billion a year for the Australian economy. If we want future generations to benefit from all the reef has to offer, we must act on climate change now.

As custodians of the reef, it is up to us to protect it. The federal government must step up its commitments to address the threat and end public subsidies for coal and gas, without exception. Right now, the largest industrial polluters are getting away with pollution as usual. The government needs to strengthen the law and update the Safeguard Mechanism – which requires the nation’s largest industrial emitters to keep their net emissions below a baseline – so we start limiting carbon pollution and get emissions plummeting this decade.

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The government can fast-track action to protect the reef by aiming to reduce emissions by at least 75 per cent by 2030. We have the solutions.

By rapidly transitioning to renewables and storage this decade, we can drive down emissions and protect the 64,000 jobs that rely on a healthy reef. We must end our reliance on the burning of fossil fuels that worsen climate impacts, including marine heatwaves.

This is a last wake-up call to save our World Heritage Great Barrier Reef, retain the beauty that makes it a tourism drawcard and protect those livelihoods.

Professor Jodie Rummer is a marine biologist at James Cook University.

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