Australia's Department of Environment has come under criticism for omitting the Great Barrier Reef from a UNESCO climate change report. Climate scientists say officials have censored details about environmental threats.
Image: Mia Hoogenboom for ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
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The UN report sought to examine the impact of climate change on world heritage sites including Australia's Great Barrier Reef, New York's Statue of Liberty, Venice and Britain's Stonehenge.
But Australian officials objected to negative references about its tourist spots and demanded they, and a whole chapter on the Reef, be removed from the document, which was released on Thursday.
Details about the Kakadu national park and the Tasmanian forests were also taken out.
"Recent experience in Australia had shown that negative commentary about the status of World Heritage properties impacted on tourism," the department said in an email statement.
It added that it was concerned that the "framing" of the report could have created confusion between the issues of the status of world heritage sites, and the risks arising from climate change.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles)
The Reef is one of Australia's main tourist attractions, generating around $3.9 billion (3.5 billion euros) annually.
Last May, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee stopped short of placing the Reef on an "in danger" list, but raised concerns about its future.
Will Steffen, a climate scientist at the Australian National University who had been asked to contribute to the report, said he was stunned to discover that all references to Australian heritage sites were missing.
"The science is really well known, that's not a problem at all, so it's nothing new to the tourism industry. It's nothing new to the scientific community at all. So it's really hard to see what's so provocative in that report," Steffen told Reuters.
Greenpeace Australia called it "jaw-dropping news" and warned that the government could not hide the truth: "Our reef is suffering because of climate change," a statement said.
Journal Reporter - Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Coal Mining
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Visit these World Heritage sites before they disappear due to climate change
The Statue of Liberty, the extensive wildlife of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the giant stone heads of Easter Island in Chile - what do they have in common? They are all at risk of disappearing due to climate change.
Image: Getty Images/J. Raedle
Rapa Nui National Park, Easter Island, Chile
The moai statues of Easter Island attract than 60,000 visitors every year. But coastal erosion and rising sea levels mean the iconic structures could be in danger of falling into the sea.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Maxppp/G. Boissy
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
A little fewer than half of the world's remaining 880 mountain gorillas live here in Uganda, attracting thousands of tourists every year. Climate change is putting them - and their home - in peril. Rising temperatures mean humans are encroaching further into their habitats. Closer contact with their human cousins is leading to more disease among the great apes.
Image: Rainer Dückerhoff
Lake Malawi National Park, Malawi
While rising sea levels are putting many coastal sites at risk, falling water levels are endangering lake ecosystems - for example in Malawi. Higher temperatures are making the water evaporate, while longer dry periods also mean rainfall is not able to replenish Lake Malawi. In addition to harming the ecosystem and area agriculture, this is also a problem for tourists, who come to dive.
Image: DW/Johannes Beck
Wadi Rum Protected Area, Jordan
Narrow gorges, high cliffs and spectacular vistas - these are some highlights of the 30,000-hectare site. Fantastic terrain and more than 45,000 rock carvings dating back 12,000 years make it a popular tourist destination. But the changing climate is leading to warmer and drier conditions, increasing water stress and threatening the desert wildlife that makes its home there.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, Palau
More than 400 limestone islands make up this Pacific paradise. Beautiful lagoons, coral reefs and ancient villages draw in more than 100,000 tourists every year. But rising temperatures and increasingly acidic waters are pushing corals to their limits, bleaching them and preventing them from building strong carbonate skeletons.
Image: Matt Rand/ The Pew Charitable Trusts
Statue of Liberty, USA
It's long-been a symbol of freedom for the world - and yet the huge statue is under threat. Rising sea levels and intensifying storms are putting the monument at considerable risk. Hurricane Sandy battered the US coast in 2012, causing extensive damage to Liberty Island infrastructure. Many believe it's only a matter of time until the monument itself is damaged.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/WHA
Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland, Denmark
Climbing temperatures are driving tourists to the glacier as people rush to witness the "ground zero" of climate change. Global warming is having a visible - and audible - impact, cracking and melting the icebergs here. But also Arctic archeological sites are disappearing as the permafrost thaws and coasts erode away.
