UNESCO hails $2.9-bn Australian plan to protect Great Barrier Reef

The UN's cultural agency UNESCO welcomes commitments from Australia to protect the Great Barrier Reef, with the government pledging $2.9 billion to safeguard the natural wonder.

Fanny Douvere, head of UNESCO World Heritage Marine Programme said "When you do make commitments in this sense, it is an important aspect that all countries around the world need to adhere to protect these places.

But it is definitely setting a standard of how a lot of other marine protected areas around the world - World heritage listed or not - should move forward."

Basically a coral reef needs three things. It needs clear water. It needs clean water, and it needs water of a certain temperature range. Above 1.5 degrees, above pre-industrial times, scientific consensus all over the world is clear that a coral reef cannot survive above that time when the coral reefs do not have clear water, when it's troubled by the sediment, it can actually not do its primary functions.