Report on invasive species & their control to be approved at the plenary was developed over four years by 86 leading experts from 49 countries
Photo: iStock The 140+ members of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have gathered at Bonn, Germany for the body’s 10th plenary. On agenda is the scientific assessment report on “Invasive Alien Species and their Control”, which is set to be released to the public on September 4, 2023.
The delegates at the plenary would approve the text of the report that has taken four years to be developed by 86 leading experts from 49 countries.
Invasive alien species are a key driver of biodiversity loss and they are part of the targets set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted by 193 members of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022. The GBF has 23 targets that have to be met by 2030.
Target 6 sets down that by 2030, the impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services would be eliminated, minimised, reduced and mitigated. The aim is to prevent and reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50 per cent by 2030.
IPBES10 is the first meeting of this global body since the adoption of GBF. IPBES has already received requests for assessments to support the GBF’s implementation. This is likely to be a global assessment on biodiversity — the second of its kind.
Other than invasive alien species, the 10th session of the plenary of the IPBES will also focus on administrative issues during the six-day meeting.
Since it was established in 2012, IPBES has produced 10 assessment reports, which provide the most authoritative source of policy-relevant knowledge on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.
IPBES reports were instrumental in providing the scientific basis for the GBF, which prominently cites the assessment report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services published in 2019.
The organisation is currently working on three more assessments:
These assessments will be completed by 2030.
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