Two weeks from now minister Butler will make a critical decision with massive ramifications for the future of the Reef. He'll be deciding on whether or not to allow 3 million cubic metres of seabed to be dredged in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, making way for a coal-shipping superhighway. The dredging is part of a plan to make Abbot Point coal port the largest coal port in the world.

As well as the huge damage the dredging will do to the delicate Reef ecosystem, Abbot Point's expansion would dismantle the progress we're making on reducing emissions - facilitating the export of the equivalent of 130% of Australia's total current annual Co2 emissions.

It's reckless and contradictory for our leaders to call this the critical decade for climate change, while simultaneously supporting some of the world's largest coal projects.