The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has published its latest framework ISO 17298:2025 Biodiversity in Strategy and Operations Standard on October 7th 2025. This marks a significant turning point for organisations seeking to embed nature, specifically biodiversity and ecosystems, resilience into their strategy and operations. As regulatory and reputational pressures continue to increase alongside growing investor and stakeholder expectations, there is an urgent need to protect the ecosystem services on which business depends. This standard sets a global benchmark for integrating biodiversity into corporate frameworks.
Breakdown of The ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard
The ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard is the first international standard dedicated specifically to helping organisations integrate biodiversity considerations effectively into strategy and operations. It addresses a clear gap: until now, many organisations have had carbon or climate focus in their management systems (e.g., ISO 14001) but lacked a globally harmonised standard for biodiversity. The standard explicitly supports the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the TNFD recommendations and existing management systems such as ISO 14001 and ISO 26000 (social responsibility).
Key take-aways from the standard’s Scope:
The standard applies to any organisation, regardless of size, sector, geography or stage of biodiversity integration.
- It is applicable to public institutions, local authorities, private companies, NGOs, small or large entities and across all sectors.
- It covers activities, sites, land holdings, value chains, life cycle and sphere of influence and is designed to be scalable from a single site to an entire corporate group.
What this means for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) managers and directors:
- Individuals in such positions should treat the ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard as an emerging best practice framework for integrating biodiversity into ESG systems, even if they currently only view biodiversity as a peripheral issue.
- A “no-size-fits-all” framework: the standard is designed to be adapted to any scale, whether it’s a modest SME or a global industrial manufacturer.
- It signals the need to incorporate biodiversity into the corporate nature strategy rather than treating it as an isolated environmental initiative.
Learn More: Carbon Emissions and Biodiversity
Implementation Tips for the ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard
As the standard has only just been released, ESG managers may still struggle with how to approach and implement the ISO 17298 biodiversity standard. It’s advisable that they work with third-party sustainability consultants who are familiar with the biodiversity framework to adapt it into their ESG strategy. Here are some initial steps ESG managers/directors can take in the meantime:
- Map your value chain: for a manufacturing business, this might include raw-material sourcing, in-use operations, waste/disposal.
- Conduct a stock-take of existing biodiversity-relevant commitments (e.g., supplier codes, restoration projects, nature-positive metrics).
- Create stakeholder maps (communities adjacent to sites, regulators, NGOs, financiers) and capture their biodiversity-related expectations.
- Integrate your biodiversity scope into your corporate nature strategy, ensuring the scope document is approved at board or executive level.
- Embed biodiversity metrics into your existing ESG or sustainability report, aligning with frameworks such as the TNFD.
- Develop an internal communications plan to raise biodiversity awareness across business units and functions (operations, procurement, supply chain, investor relations).
- Ensure data disclosures are robust, traceable and aligned with auditors or external assurance processes where applicable.
Additionally, ensure biodiversity indicators are classified with the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response or DPSIR framework, as outline in Clause 7.4 of ISO 17298.
Linking the ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard to Other Frameworks
The standard is interoperable with management systems such as ISO 14001 (environmental), ISO 26000 (social responsibility) and supports disclosure frameworks such as TNFD. It directly links to the global biodiversity framework (the Kunming-Montreal GBF) – the standard supports corporate disclosure and action under Target 15 of that framework. Annex A also references supporting frameworks and tools including IPBES, IUCN, SBTN, GRI, OECD Due Diligence and the Open Standards for conversation, reinforcing its interoperability. By embedding biodiversity into your corporate nature strategy, the standard helps integrate nature-related risks/opportunities alongside climate and social issues – a holistic sustainability approach.
Key Risks and Red Flags to Watch
- Considering biodiversity as an add-on: Without full integration into strategy and operations, organisations risk fragmented actions and weak performance. The ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard addresses this by embedding biodiversity into the core.
- Lack of prioritisation: Failing to systematically identify dependencies, impacts and risks (Clause 6) may lead to misallocation of resources.
- Poor stakeholder engagement: Without effective stakeholder identification and involvement (Clause 4 & 7), the biodiversity approach may lack credibility.
- Weak monitoring or lack of biodiversity KPI: If actions are planned but not monitored, and objectives not updated (Clause 9), the approach will stagnate.
- Disclosure gaps: Without transparent reporting (Clause 8), organisations may face investor or regulatory scrutiny, especially as nature-related disclosure expectations rise.
The Bottom Line
The nature-dependence of businesses is high (half of global GDP) and biodiversity loss translates into supply-chain risk, regulatory risk, reputational risk and capital access risk. The ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard offers organisations of all sizes and across sectors a clear, structured roadmap for moving from ambition to action in biodiversity management. It guides the embedding of biodiversity into corporate nature strategy and is designed to help organisations manage dependencies and impacts, strengthen resilience and unlock new opportunities in a world where nature is increasingly central to business success. While ISO 17298 is voluntary, its principles are expected to underpin upcoming reporting obligations under frameworks such as the EU CSRD ESRS E4 and TNFD. Taking early action under the ISO 17298 Biodiversity Standard is a strategic way to future-proof operations, demonstrate leadership and transition to a nature-positive economy.