This new IPBES report on invasive alien species provides crucial information on invasive species trends and policy tools to tackle this global problem. While the targets are ambitious - especially considering the increase in global trade and travel - it has great potential to be a catalyst for implementing concrete actions against invasive species, which pose a growing and serious threat to biodiversity, as well as to human health in many cases. Although the biodiversity crisis is not as well known to the general public as the climate crisis, we are facing another major driver of global chang,e whose adverse effects on the environment and people continue to expand. While all ecosystems on the planet are vulnerable to invasions, islands are particularly so. Of the extinctions documented worldwide to this day, nearly 80% have occurred on islands, and the vast majority of these extinctions have been caused by invasive species. There is a real urgency to address the problem of invasive alien species and therefore this report is very relevant and pertinent at this time. 

The sound scientific basis provided by the report can help countries and stakeholders to understand and combat the ever-growing threat of invasive species. It provides tools and policies to identify and regulate pathways of introduction, as well as to eliminate or control established invasive species.  

Both at the international and at the national level, the approach that should be taken to combat the problem of invasive species, and to generate significant benefits to the natural environment and to society at large, needs to include various sectors related to biosecurity, such as trade, transport, human and plant health, economic development, and other related fields. 

Such an approach should be tailor-made and comprehensive and adapted to each individual situation. The report includes some very good and feasible options, in my view: consideration of coherent policies and codes of conduct across different sectors and scales; commitment and allocation of resources; public awareness and participation through citizen science outreach campaigns; open and interoperable information systems; addressing knowledge gaps (the authors identify more than 40 areas requiring research); as well as inclusive and fair governance. 

It would be important for decision-makers to consider the recommendations in this report as the fundamental basis for addressing this growing threat to both biodiversity and human well-being. Their commitment and action are essential to move towards the realisation of the targets set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity by 2030.

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