The International Organisation for Standardisation has launched the world’s first International Standard dedicated to supporting organisations globally to take action on biodiversity during its Annual Meeting 2025 (AM25) in Kigali, Rwanda. It launched on Tuesday.
ISO 17298: Biodiversity for organisations – Guidelines and Requirements is a new standard that provides, for the first time, a practical and scalable framework to help organisations assess their biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities.
Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is essential to the health of ecosystems, economies, and communities. As nature loss accelerates, ISO’s new standard offers a vital tool to help organisations take measurable, accountable action to protect and restore biodiversity.
When biodiversity is lost, businesses face higher operating costs, disrupted supply chains, and regulatory and reputational risks. Acting on biodiversity empowers organisations to strengthen operations, access nature-positive finance, and build trust with customers, regulators, and society.
ISO Head of Sustainability and Partnerships, Noelia Garcia Nebra, said that by integrating biodiversity into organisational strategies and operations, large-scale, systemic change can happen where it matters most.
“Many organisations see the urgency of biodiversity action, but navigating the path can be complex. Until now, there has been no globally agreed standard for organisations to integrate biodiversity into their strategies and operations,” Nebra said. “This lack of a common framework has contributed to fragmented approaches and growing confusion as nature-related risks and expectations increase.
ISO 17298 addresses this gap by offering a structured roadmap that enables organisations to assess biodiversity-related impacts and consider these effectively in their strategies, according to Nebra.
“The standard embeds biodiversity into core governance and risk management practices – not just sustainability reporting – ensuring alignment with global expectations and organisational operations,” Nebra added.
The new standard is designed to be interoperable with other widely used initiatives such as ISO 14001, ISO 26000, TNFD, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It contributes directly to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly Target 15, which focuses on corporate action.
ISO Director of Standardisation, Marco Rossi, stated that ISO 17298 was critically scalable and inclusive, suitable for organisations of all sizes, regions, and sectors.
“ISO 17298 is suitable for a wide range of users, from SMEs and large corporates to public institutions and cities. It supports the production of credible, comparable biodiversity data that can inform investment decisions, improve disclosure, and unlock access to a nature-positive economy and biodiversity-linked markets,” Rossi said. “By grounding biodiversity action in a globally agreed standard, ISO 17298 allows organisations to move from ambition to implementation – creating the transparency, accountability, and consistency needed to halt and reverse nature loss.”
The standard was developed by ISO Technical Committee 331 on Biodiversity (ISO/TC 331), which brings together experts from over 60 countries. ISO 17298 is the committee’s first published standard, with additional workstreams underway to further expand guidance in this critical area.
The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), a liaison organisation to TC331, stated that biodiversity is a critical consideration for the resilience of business strategy, risk management, and value creation across sectors and geographies.
“The TNFD is pleased to have supported ISO with the development of this important standard, building from its recommendations and guidance of the TNFD LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, and Prepare) approach. ISO 17298 will help as an international standard in further harmonising concepts, definitions and approaches, and supporting organisations to consider nature-related issues in their strategy and operations,” TNFD Technical Director, Emily McKenzie said.
The new standard was launched during the ISO AM25 session ‘From risk to action: why biodiversity matters to your business.’ During the event, the Minister of Environment of Rwanda also unveiled the country’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). The strategy marks a significant step in advancing Rwanda’s commitments to protect and restore nature.
ISO 17298 marks the beginning of a broader suite of biodiversity standards. Future work includes standards on vocabulary, biodiversity net gain, and characterisation of products based on native species, among others. These standards will build the technical foundation for credible, scalable, and transparent biodiversity action worldwide.
The AM25 is being hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, by the Rwanda Standards Board, ISO’s member for the country, until October 10 under the theme ‘United for Impact’. Participants globally can engage online.
