Standards Development

Scope

The Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) standard will provide guidance on the design and delivery of gains for biodiversity through the lifecycle of a project.

The standard will set out the requirements for delivering BNG at each stage of a project, from preparation through design and implementation and into maintenance and monitoring. It will be applicable to all scales of development or conservation projects.

The standard will draw together and build on existing work providing one version of BNG, enabling organisations to check when gains are delivered and clearly state when the standard has been met. The standard will enable greater transparency on delivery and contribute to demonstrating biodiversity net positive commitments.

It will apply to a broad range of potential users including auditors, developers, conservation organisations, land managers, consenting organisations and investors.

The BNG standard will link to existing work and examples to assist understanding and facilitate implementation of the guidance. 

Purpose

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a specific, measurable outcome of project activities that deliver demonstrable and quantifiable benefits to biodiversity compared to the baseline situation. In order to achieve BNG, a project must follow the Mitigation Hierarchy and be able to demonstrate that it has followed the Principles of BNG.

The ‘First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’ published by the Convention on Biological Diversity on the 5th of July 2021 sets Goal A A.1 for a ‘Net gain in the area, connectivity and integrity of natural systems of at least 5 per cent’. In addition, Target 15 states ‘All businesses (public and private, large, medium and small) assess and report on their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity, from local to global, and progressively reduce negative impacts, by at least half and increase positive impacts, reducing biodiversity-related risks to businesses and moving towards the full sustainability of extraction and production practices, sourcing and supply chains, and use and disposal.’

Although the wording of this goal and target are still in development the direction of travel is clear; BNG will underpin the Post 2020 framework and will play a central part for businesses committing to deliver net positive outcomes for nature.

A BNG standard is now essential to allow different businesses to report consistently and transparently. It is equally important for organisations wishing to demonstrate gains and for habitat banks to be traded robustly and fairly as well as delivering the gains for biodiversity.

This Standard is for any sector of industry, including residential, mixed-use, energy, water, transport, communications and infrastructure. It is also for conservation organisations, consenting bodies, investors and consumers.

It is for any scale of project from individual house builds to large-scale developments, as well as small and large-scale estate management. It covers land and freshwater environments. It is for projects that affect biodiversity and those with limited or no impact on biodiversity, as well as projects aiming to achieve BNG on and/or off site.

British Standards Institution (BSI) published BS 8683 Process for designing and implementing Biodiversity Net Gain — Specification at the end of August and this ISO standard will draw from experience of writing and using this standard. Alongside this the standard the ISO standard will draw and make reference to existing material produced on biodiversity offsetting, including the Business and Biodiversity Offsetting Programme [BBOP] - Standard on Biodiversity Offsets, International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 6, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Policy on Biodiversity Offsets, The Conservation Hierarchy and others.

This ISO standard will set out the BNG requirements for each stage of a development or conservation project, from project preparation, design, implementation to ongoing maintenance and monitoring. It will also be applicable for land managers aiming to generate BNG through land management. The standard will play a vital role in enabling the gains in biodiversity to be traded with loss in a consistent and transparent manner.