Genetic technologies: why we cannot exclude them

Newly developed gene drive technologies have significant potential to address ongoing biodiversity losses, particularly with regards to the management of ecologically devastating invasive alien species (IAS). The recent Global Biodiversity Assessment published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services makes clear that innovation in this field is more necessary now than ever. This session will present current challenges in managing IAS and highlight the need for new tools. It will introduce efforts currently underway to develop novel genetic technologies for this purpose, situating them within debates around the risks, benefits, and limits of existing techniques and methods.