The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has just published a new international standard, “ISO 17298: Biodiversity for organizations”, to help organizations assess and address impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities related to biodiversity.
The new standard is being launched amid growing regulatory, reputational and operational pressures due to biodiversity risks, with $44 trillion, or more than half of global GDP, having a medium or high dependence on nature, according to ISO.
As pressure grows and companies integrate biodiversity elements into their strategies and operations, the lack of a common biodiversity framework has led to fragmented approaches and growing confusion as nature-related risks and expectations increase, according to Noelia Garcia Nebra, ISO’s Head of Sustainability and Partnerships. The new standard aims to address this gap, “by providing a structured roadmap to help organizations assess biodiversity-related impacts and effectively consider them in their strategies.”
Garcia Nebra added:
“This standard integrates biodiversity into core governance and risk management practices – not just sustainability reporting – ensuring alignment with global expectations and organizational operations.”
ISO says the new standard will help organizations assess how their operations interact with biodiversity, prioritize actions at both the operational and landscape levels, set measurable targets and monitor progress, and integrate biodiversity into broader sustainability efforts.
The new ISO biodiversity standard was developed by a technical committee bringing together experts from more than 60 countries, including the Working Group on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) as an associate organization to the committee.
TNFD Technical Director Emily McKenzie said:
“TNFD is pleased to have supported ISO in the development of this important standard, which builds on the recommendations and guidance of TNFD’s LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, and Prepare) methodology. ISO 17298 will help as an international standard to harmonize concepts, definitions and approaches, and support organizations to consider nature-related issues in their strategies and operations.”
In addition to TNFD, ISO says the new standard is designed to be compatible with other standards frameworks and initiatives, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as ISO 14001 on environmental management systems and ISO 26000 on social responsibility, and contributes directly to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
ISO Director of Standardization, Marco Rossi, said:
“ISO 17298 is suitable for a wide range of users, from small and medium-sized enterprises to public organisations and cities. It supports the production of reliable, comparable biodiversity data that can inform investment decisions, improve disclosure and unlock access to nature-positive economies and biodiversity-related markets.”
ISO says the new release marks the start of a broader set of biodiversity standards, with future work focusing on areas such as vocabulary standards, net biodiversity benefits and product characterization based on native species, among others.
Mark Segal
Sources: ESG today