The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has three aims: conservation, sustainable use of Earth's resources and sharing the benefits from genetic resources fairly. There are five major drivers of biodiversity loss identified by IITBES; one is spread of invasive species. How we consume, how we mine, how we farm all play a role in protecting our environment.
Invasive non-native species are on the rise around the world and, despite efforts to tackle the issue, their numbers are higher than ever. They have become one of the key driving forces behind biodiversity loss, posing an even greater threat to biodiversity than the climate crisis. Monitoring, tracking and managing invasive species is one of the issues up for discussion at the UN’s biodiversity Cop15, which is now in full swing in Montreal, Canada. Ian Sample gets an update on how Cop15 is progressing from biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield, and hears from Prof Helen Roy from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology about why invasive species pose such a serious risk to native wildlife. Help support our independent journalism at
theguardian.com/sciencepod