Climate change is already affecting the Great Barrier Reef, and the impacts are expected to intensify in the future.  In the Southern Hemisphere summer of 2016, the Reef was affected by the third, and most severe, global coral bleaching event ever recorded. In response to this and other on-going environmental threats, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the Queensland Government and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation developed and implemented a series of strategies, programs and plans with the aim of protecting the Reef and increasing its resilience to climate change. These efforts have generated a significant body of research, enhanced the understanding of reef processes, and demonstrated the importance of a partnership approach to Reef management. Nevertheless, there are limits to what can be done to physically protect the Reef from the impacts of a changing climate, other than a global effort to reduce emissions, and there are physical limits to adaptation for the Reef.