Invasive alien species are spreading around the world at “unprecedented and increasing rates”, according to a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
It warns that, using conservative estimates, biological invasions cost the world US$423bn per year – a number that has risen fourfold since the 1970s. And under a “business-as-usual” scenario, the total number of alien species is projected to increase by more than a third by 2050.