Published in October 2025, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) launched ISO17298: Biodiversity in Strategy and Operations, the very first international standard to support organisations in addressing their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity.
Developed by AFNOR, the French standard organisation, “ISO 17289: Biodiversity in strategy and operations” reflects growing global momentum to integrate biodiversity into corporate decision-making. SE Advisory Services proudly contributed expert input to the standard’s technical committee, and now supports organisations to adopt the standard.
As awareness of biodiversity-related risk grows across the private sector, the absence of an internationally recognised standard has made integration into strategy challenging. The launch of ISO 17298 fills this gap, offering a structured approach to embed biodiversity into business operations.
With biodiversity declining at an unprecedented rate, the deployment of ISO 17298 encourages businesses to:
The standard is aligned with existing voluntary frameworks, including the TNFD disclosure framework, Target 15 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (to reduce the negative impacts of business on biodiversity), and with other standards such as ISO 14001 (environmental management systems) and ISO 26000 (social responsibility).
Adoption of ISO 17298 by business can provide many benefits: it helps reduce risk exposure of the business to biodiversity loss and the associated financial impacts, anticipates regulatory changes (e.g. CSRD), and fosters new business and investment opportunities.
ISO 17298 lays out the required steps for an organisation to understand and prioritise their dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities, providing the foundation for an organisational biodiversity strategy.
The standard sets out requirements to:
The standard also includes general ISO management system requirements: resource allocation, definition of roles and responsibilities, consideration of stakeholder expectations, leadership involvement, audits, and continuous improvement.
To implement the standard’s requirements, existing methods and tools can be leveraged, such as:
The SE Advisory Services’ nature offering is fully aligned with ISO 17298 and other existing frameworks, such as the TNFD LEAP approach:
This new standard may apply to any organisation – public or private, large or small – seeking to reduce biodiversity-related risks and improve its sustainability performance.
It can be used at both the site level (production site, regional location, commercial zone, agricultural operation, etc.) and the organisational level (industrial group, local authority, etc.). Additional standards on this topic will follow soon to further support organisations committed to integrating biodiversity into their strategy.
SE Advisory Services are your technical experts for keeping informed of these upcoming developments. Explore how we can support you to progress your biodiversity strategy and contact our team.
Biodiversity refers to the set of all natural processes that enable humans and many other living species to live and thrive. This factsheet covers SE Advisory Services’s four-step approach to supporting you in measuring and reducing your impact on biodiversity and the role SE Advisory Services can play in your ecological transition.
Choose SE Advisory Services for industry-leading expertise in climate strategy and sustainability solutions. We’re here to guide your business through every step towards achieving your sustainability goals while supporting your operational success and market reputation.