Climate change is now the biggest threat to natural World Heritage, according to a report published earlier in December by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
 
A third (33%) of natural World Heritage sites are threatened by climate change, including the world’s largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef, assessed as having a “critical” outlook for the first time.
 
“Natural World Heritage sites are amongst the world’s most precious places, and we owe it to future generations to protect them,” said Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General.  He said the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3 reveals the damage climate change is wreaking on natural World Heritage, from shrinking glaciers to coral bleaching to increasingly frequent and severe fires and droughts.”
 
Download the report, IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3, here and Access Conservation Outlook Assessments for 252 natural sites here.