Costly impact of invasive 'deadly duo' species
When combined, the two major threats to the natural world have a costly impact on wildlife and people's livelihoods, a study by the Global Invasive Species Programme suggested.
The report said the estimated damage caused by invasive species, which have a negative impact on native wildlife, landscapes and even - as in the case of Japanese knotweed in the UK - buildings and infrastructure, was $1.4 trillion (890 billion) a year, or about 5 per cent of global GDP.
Estimates of the potential losses from global climate change are also around 5 per cent of global GDP.