Full credit to the wakeup2thelies website for uncovering this little gem:

Australian taxpayers are funding a tropical holiday talkfest in the Bahamas for climate change. The Bahamas & Caribbean are not even in our region, in fact it is one of the most faraway places & regions from Australia.

The link to the Nassau Guardian shows that the attendees are shy about saying exactly where they are holding these important talks, but the Reef Atlantis has some of the best convention facilities, great views over the ocean and, of course, air conditioning. It’s also high enough to be free of any potential climate change induced inundations. Hmmm, looks nice.

But what caught my eye was this, from the Nassau Guardian:

Coral reef experts managing the world’s three largest barrier reefs will meet at a workshop in The Bahamas next week to share knowledge and experiences and to get better equipped to deal with the challenge of climate change…

“Australia is home to the world’s largest barrier reef, while the second and third largest barrier reefs are located in Belize and The Bahamas respectively. It is only natural, therefore, that our existing development partnership with the Caribbean Community should encompass knowledge-sharing on issues related to reef management,” said Philip Kentwell, high commissioner of Australia.

But are the barrier reefs in Belize and The Bahamas really the second and third largest barrier reefs in the world?

There is still some argument about it, but there is little argument that the New Caledonian Barrier Reef is at least the third largest. From this, the World Atlas of Coral Reefs (page 334):

The shallow platform on which these islands lie is rimmed by the world’s second largest barrier reef, over 1300 kilometres in length.

UNESCO in its citation of the New Caledonia reef states:

The tropical lagoons and coral reefs of New Caledonia are an outstanding example of high diversity coral reef ecosystems and form one of the three most extensive reef systems in the world.

Whatever way you look at it, it appears that the suggestion that both reefs in Belize and the Bahamas are larger than New Caledonian Barrier Reef is false.

Isn’t this something that people who do this stuff for a living and travel to the Bahamas to discuss should know? Using the High Commissioner’s logic, surely this new information means it is not natural for knowledge sharing with people in the Caribbean.

A conference in New Caledonia would have prevented tens of thousands of air miles in greenhouse gas-producing aeroplanes – but then the food in New Caledonia is not quite so good, and there is no chance of a Miami stop-over, is there?