Great Barrier Reef should be placed on world heritage ‘in danger’ list, UN-backed report says

The report from a UN-backed mission to the Great Barrier Reef will be considered with government responses before Unesco makes recommendations to the world heritage committee. Photograph: Jumbo Aerial Photography/AP

A UN-backed mission to the Great Barrier Reef has concluded the world’s biggest coral reef system should be placed on a list of world heritage sites in danger.

The long-awaited report on the 10-day mission that took place in March said climate change was presenting a “serious challenge” to the values that saw the reef inscribed as a global wonder in 1981.