The world’s coral reefs are threatened by climate change.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) flagged directly to the custodian’s of the world’s coral reefs that the need to act on climate change was beyond scientific doubt, and could not wait. The message was clear – with cumulative climate change effects, such as warmer and more acidic ocean waters, already in evidence, the resilience of reefs like the Great Barrier Reef was already very much at risk. By 2020 if nothing is done 60% of the Reef would bleach every second year.

The Great Barrier Marine Park Authority’s first Outlook Report in 2009 reinforced the risks of climate change stating that “Almost all the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef will be affected by climate change, with coral reef habitats the most vulnerable”.

Risks to biodiversity also have human and economic impacts. In 2009 the Foundation published a study by Oxford Economics into the economic costs of a coral bleaching event. It found that in the event of a catastrophic bleaching event up to 70% of the A$51.4 billion value the Reef provides to the national economy would be lost.

In response to the scale and immediacy of the climate change threat to the Reef, and to focus its grant making activities, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation adopted as its research vision: "A resilient Reef, successfully adapting to climate change”.