Global travel, world trade and change in climate conditions increase the risks from pest and disease incursions and outbreaks in many agricultural systems. This emphasises the vital importance of biosecurity in pest management, a set of preventive measures to reduce such risks. Sugarcane is grown in many countries worldwide and is known to host more than 1500 insects and 80 diseases, but the vast majority have restricted geographic distributions. However, the adaptability of some pests and their incursion into sugarcane areas can be surprising and very costly. Sugarcane and maize are the two main commodities already responding to the pulls of the new bioeconomy. The expansion of sugarcane regions for biofuel production changes both the biosecurity risks for movement and the local potential impacts for pest communities. Pest management strategies will need to adapt. This is equally true for managing new pest incursions as it is for agronomic practices that may lead to a shift in pest pressure and dynamics. This review considers the changes in the global sugarcane industries resulting from the new bioeconomy and the risks and required responses for managing the biosecurity threats and pest management of arthropod sugarcane pests. From historical examples, it is shown how the sugarcane biofuel production systems are threatened by economically important pests and what research is needed to implement future pest management solutions.