The MSC Foundation is backing groundbreaking research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, which has raised the alarm that 44 percent of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction.

These findings were revealed today at the COP29 UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At the conference’s Global Corals Update session, Daniela Picco, Executive Director of the MSC Foundation, joined IUCN Deputy Director General Stewart Maginnis and other distinguished panelists to discuss the Foundation’s support for this global assessment of coral species and ecosystems, and how this research is being integrated into the Foundation’s conservation efforts and grant-making initiatives.

“This Global Coral Assessment raises the alarm for urgent collective action to stop the decline of coral reefs worldwide. The MSC Foundation is proud to partner with the IUCN Coral Red List team, who have done an exceptional job collecting the data to assess and report on the status of the world’s reef-building corals,” Picco said.

“The IUCN Red List guides our Foundation in making science-based philanthropic decisions, for lasting and impactful conservation efforts that contribute to preserving our planet. It will continue to be a vital resource for our family-led Foundation for generations,” she added.

The research assessed the conservation status of 892 warm-water reef-building coral species, highlighting a concerning trend of escalating risk. When corals were last assessed for the IUCN Red List in 2008, one-third were classified as threatened.

The report identifies climate change, rising ocean temperatures, and severe coral bleaching events as primary threats to these vital ecosystems, along with pollution, agricultural runoff, disease, and unsustainable fishing practices.

The report’s expert assessors recommend actions to reduce these threats, enhance species resilience, and explore how corals can adapt to warmer waters.

The Foundation’s work on Ocean Cay, an island in The Bahamas, to restore resilient populations of Critically Endangered Elkhorn Coral species in its open-water nursery gains added significance following the release of the IUCN Red List assessment.

Professor David Smith, MSC Foundation Chief Scientific Advisor, said, “The latest global assessment brings troubling news for corals with more than 340 species now being considered at risk of extinction. Much work remains to be done to secure the future of these species and the vital reefs they form. An ocean without functioning coral reefs would be a bleak reality, highlighting the urgent need to find solutions to the climate crisis while simultaneously addressing today’s coral crisis.

The IUCN report highlights two key coral species that have been central to our collaborative research focused on identifying resilient coral genotypes enhancing the efficiency—and, by extension, the success—of restoration efforts designed to rebuild critical coral ecosystems.”

Since 2020, the MSC Foundation’s Super Coral Program and collaboration with university partners have achieved 100% survival rates of nursery-grown corals following recent warming events. This effort complements MSC Cruises’ long-term restoration project, which began in 2015 as part of the redevelopment of the former sand-mining site into a thriving marine ecosystem.

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