Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is causing a clash within the Spanish government | Climate and environment

bad situation the great Barrier ReefOne of the most common victims Global Warming, caused a strong shock within the Spanish government. On Friday, Spain voted against UNESCO to include this natural formation in its list World Heritage in danger. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented Spain before this international body and gave instructions to join the embargo position. But the position that was adopted did not please the third deputy prime minister, Teresa Ribera, which has an environmental transformation portfolio. His department has publicly expressed its disagreement with the Foreign Ministry and the responsibility of the two ministries rests with the PSOE.

According to the sources consulted by this newspaper, in the last hours, Ribera maneuvered within the executive branch of Pedro Sanchez to try to persuade Foreign Affairs to adjust its position, which means open support for Australia, one of the developed countries less engaged in the fight against global warming. The Ribera constituency announced its rejection of the post taken by the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Alparís. “MITCO [el Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico] “He has expressed his opinion not in favor of this amendment and in favor of the UNESCO proposal,” a spokeswoman for the Ribera administration said. “El Miteco stressed that the Great Barrier Reef is in a critical situation as a result of acidification and temperature increase, that is, as a primary consequence of the effects of climate change, and therefore the maximum commitment from Australia and the international community,” the same source added.

Hours ago, the State Department referred to the digital number climate That “the obligation to vote was already taken before the arrival of the current minister.” “Spain will comply with the commitments it made,” he added. “It is a decision taken jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture, in which Mitico expressed its opinion,” Foreign Affairs said. This view was unfavorable, as explained by Ribera’s department.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Australia’s environment minister, Susan Lee, visited Madrid recently, and the foreign and culture chiefs, Jose Manuel Alparis and Miquel Isita, found the decision already made. The same sources added: “When the transitional period raised its refusal, the vote was settled and Spain must fulfill its obligations.” They insisted that the government’s “collectively adopted” position was not to remove the Great Barrier Reef from the list of threatened areas, but rather to postpone the decision to 2022 and send a mission to assess the impact of measures taken by Australia since then. 2012 to protect it. “It is the same thing that Spain raised in the Doñana case in 2018,” add these sources, confirming that the decision was taken unanimously by the 21 member states of the World Heritage Committee, of which Spain and Norway are the only two. Europeans, without having to vote.

The secretariat of UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – at its annual meeting, which is actually taking place, submitted a proposal to declare the Great Barrier in Danger, which in 1981 was recognized as a World Heritage Site. But according to Juan Carlos del Olmo, the head of WWF in Spain, Australia has moved in recent weeks to avoid this. He submitted an amendment to postpone this decision. The alternative text was endorsed by 12 countries including Hungary, Russia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and to the surprise of many international environmental organizations, Spain.

The final decision on the Great Barrier Reef was made on Friday, and Spain, as planned, spoke out against including this formation on the List of Heritage in Danger. Finally, it was decided to “establish a committee to assess the situation with the Australian government and local communities,” explains José Luis García Varas, Head of WWF Oceans in Spain. Garcia Varas adds that it was also agreed to review this file again next year.

UNESCO, the body responsible for celebrities World Heritage List, is the scene on many occasions of pressure and exchange of support between states. On Sunday, a vote on the Spanish proposal is scheduled for Paseo del Prado and El Retiro de Madrid declared a World Heritage Site. If it prospered, Madrid would cease to be one of the few European capitals that did not have any UNESCO-listed assets. The Foreign Ministry has redoubled its efforts in recent days to gain sufficient support for his candidacy, something that was not guaranteed. In addition, UNESCO has been doing education for years For the problems faced by the Doñana Natural Area, which may at some point lead to declaring this natural space in danger as well.

Del Olmo described Spain’s stance on Friday before UNESCO as “unjustified”. He noted that the Great Barrier Reef is in a critical situation, as well as climate change, due to industrial projects that have been approved by the Australian Government, which are governed by Conservatives. The representative of the World Wide Fund for Nature indicated that the Labor Party of Australia supported the inclusion of the Great Barrier Reef on the List of Heritage in Danger.

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