Adverse environmental impact

What the Annex lists

The definition sets no general standard of environmental harm. It points to a closed list in the Annex. Two of its three references sit in the human rights part of the Annex, not the environmental one. Part I, Section 1, point 15 prohibits causing measurable environmental degradation, such as harmful soil change, water or air pollution, harmful emissions, excessive water consumption, degradation of land or deforestation, where the degradation impairs the natural bases for food, denies safe drinking water, hinders access to sanitation, harms a person's health, safety or use of land, or adversely affects ecosystem services. Point 16 protects the right of individuals, groupings and communities to lands and resources, including the prohibition to unlawfully evict or take land, forests and waters.

Part II then lists prohibitions and obligations from environmental instruments. The first nine points cover, among others, the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Rotterdam Convention and the Montreal Protocol. The definition adds that national legislation linked to the provisions of those instruments is taken into account.

The practical consequence is that an environmental harm enters the Directive through a breach of a listed prohibition or obligation, not through its size alone. A company mapping its exposure starts from the Annex text and works outwards to its own activities, not the other way round.