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International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has introduced ISO 17298: Biodiversity for organizations, a new international standard developed to help organizations systematically assess and address their biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities.
The standard has been launched in response to growing regulatory, reputational, and operational pressures linked to biodiversity loss. More than half of global GDP, valued at over 44 trillion dollars, is moderately or highly dependent on nature. At the same time, the absence of a clear, unified framework has led to fragmented approaches, increasing complexity for businesses seeking to address nature-related risks.
ISO 17298 provides a structured framework to:
>> Assess how organizational activities interact with biodiversity.
>> Prioritize actions at operational and landscape levels.
>> Set measurable objectives and monitor progress.
>> Integrate biodiversity into broader sustainability and risk management strategies.
The standard has been developed through a technical committee involving experts from more than 60 countries. It is closely aligned with existing global frameworks, including Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ISO 14001, ISO 26000, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
ISO 17298 embeds biodiversity into core governance and risk management practices, ensuring stronger alignment between sustainability commitments and operational processes. It is designed for a broad range of users, including small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, public institutions, and cities.
The standard is expected to enhance the availability of credible and comparable biodiversity data, inform investment decisions, strengthen disclosures, and support access to biodiversity-linked markets.
This launch also marks the beginning of a broader suite of ISO biodiversity standards, with future work expected to address areas such as vocabulary, biodiversity net gain, and product characterization based on native species.
