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COP15: useful voluntary standards for biodiversity

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Montreal from December 7 to 19, 2022. The world of standardization is represented, under the French banner, because voluntary standards enable a common language and best practices to be shared.

Published on 07/12/2022, updated 17/09/2024 à 08:16 Reading time : 3 minutes

After climate, biodiversity! Of the three major international environmental conventions overseen by the UN, two are in the spotlight as 2022 draws to a close: the Climate COP, whose 27th edition has just been held in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, and the COP Biodiversity, whose 15th edition takes place from December 7 to 19, 2022 in Montreal, Canada.

Climate and biodiversity are intimately linked, and for both, standardization has its say. Voluntary standards – as distinct from regulations! -enable a common language and best practices to be shared between players concerned by these issues. For the climate, we said this in 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow. For biodiversity, France, through AFNOR, wants to promote a voluntary standard that has been a benchmark in France for two years, for anyone making biodiversity preservation a skilfully constructed strategy: standard NF X32-001 “Démarche biodiversité des organisations – Exigences et lignes directrices” (Biodiversity approach for organizations – Requirements and guidelines).

This document proposes a methodology for systematically screening biodiversity issues and analyzing the impact of activities: defining a strategy, an action plan, evaluating results and making improvements. It also provides decision-making tools for questioning, defining and achieving biodiversity objectives. “Less than 1% of companies are aware of the extent to which their activities depend on nature and the ecosystem services it provides, points out a World Benchmarking Alliance study released on December 5, 2022 on the practices of 400 companies. What’s more, 97% of the companies in the benchmark have not yet committed to a positive trajectory for nature by 2030.”

A voluntary ISO 17298 standard in June 2024

The Montreal meeting is an opportunity to shed light on the international version of the French standard, which is being worked on by the ISO 331 technical committee on biodiversity. Led by France, which has the ISO mandate for this topic, the future ISO 17298 standard “Strategic and operational approach for organizations – Requirements and guidelines” is due for June 2024. “At the same time, we’re continuing to mobilize specialists to get involved in sub-themes as diverse as ecological restoration and the assessment of genetic diversity, in order to draw up best practice documents,” adds Caroline Lhuillery, who coordinates the work for AFNOR and represents it in Montreal.

The International Organization for Standardization is also organizing a
side event
 at COP15 on December 14, entitled “The imperative of international standards to achieve global biodiversity targets”. Objectives :

  • enable participants to understand and appreciate the value of international voluntary standards in the context of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
  • understand why international voluntary biodiversity standards are needed and what already exists
  • broadcast what the 331 technical committee on biodiversity is doing and how its membership can be expanded.

Follow the ISO 17298 voluntary standard project
Learn about the NF X32-001 standard and implement an exemplary biodiversity approach
Apply for AFAQ Biodiversity certification

See also “Seven voluntary standards committed to biodiversity”: https: //afnor.org/en/news/seven-voluntary-standards-committed-biodiversity//