Legislative changes in Queensland and recent Federal Government decisions have undermined efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef, says a WWF report to the World Heritage Committee.
Proponents of projects that could affect the Great Barrier Reef will face more stringent offset requirements and greater scrutiny of their cumulative impacts, according to a draft strategic assessment released today.
A company will be allowed to seek approval for a full-scale oil shale plant at Gladstone, paving the way for development of massive reserves along the state's coast and prompting warnings from the Greens and environment groups.
Xstrata Coal Qld has failed to secure a Land Court order that Friends of the Earth pay legal costs incurred by the company while it fought the environment group's unsuccessful challenge to mining leases and approvals for the proposed Wandoan coal mine.
The Queensland Government has suspended the state's coastal protection policy, replacing it with one that is still in draft form and that drops a requirement for councils to prepare climate change adaptation strategies.
With a new federal government report highlighting $226 billion in climate change risk to coastal infrastructure, Colonial First State infrastructure investment manager Mark Rogers says Brisbane airport offers a good example of how business should respond.