Signal Nearly 14 percent of Red List animal species affected by pollution

Summary

Novel entities broadly cover synthetic chemicals and materials, such as pesticides, plasticizers, PFAS and plastics, that have become embedded in daily life since the 1950s. The report sees clear evidence that pollution from many of them is toxic to the biosphere, disrupts ecosystem functions and weakens resilience against other pressures such as climate change and ocean acidification. IPBES has named chemical pollution as one of the five major drivers of global biodiversity loss. Close to 14 percent of the 84,000 animal species on the IUCN Red List of threatened species are classed as affected by pollution. The report points out that no place is free of novel entities, from the deep seabed to space junk in orbit. It also says that most novel entities are poorly known even in identity, let alone in safety.