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Glossary termPublished inCSDDD

Adverse human rights impact

What does "Adverse human rights impact" mean under the CSDDD?

An impact on persons resulting from:

  • (i) an abuse of one of the human rights listed in Part I, Section 1, of the Annex to this Directive, as those human rights are enshrined in the international instruments listed in Part I, Section 2, of the Annex to this Directive
  • (ii) an abuse of a human right not listed in Part I, Section 1, of the Annex to this Directive, but enshrined in the human rights instruments listed in Part I, Section 2, of the Annex to this Directive, provided that:
    • the human right can be abused by a company or legal entity
    • the human right abuse directly impairs a legal interest protected in the human rights instruments listed in Part I, Section 2, of the Annex to this Directive
    • the company could have reasonably foreseen the risk that such human right may be affected, taking into account the circumstances of the specific case, including the nature and extent of the company’s business operations and its chain of activities, the characteristics of the economic sector and the geographical and operational context

Defined in / by

Last updated: 13 October 2026.

Two routes into the definition

Point (i) is the closed route: an abuse of a human right listed in Part I, Section 1, of the Annex, read with the instruments in Part I, Section 2. Those instruments include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the core conventions of the International Labour Organization. Section 1 starts with the right to life and the prohibition of torture and runs to 16 points. Points 15 and 16, on environmental degradation and land rights, also feed the environmental definition.

Point (ii) is the open route, and it carries three cumulative conditions. The right can be abused by a company or legal entity. The abuse directly impairs a legal interest protected in the Section 2 instruments. And the company could have reasonably foreseen the risk, judged on the circumstances of the case, including its operations, its chain of activities, the sector and the geographical and operational context.

The foreseeability test is where the judgment sits. It is assessed per case, so two companies can reach different results for the same right. On the text of the definition, point (i) carries no foreseeability condition.

Questions and answers

Does the definition cover rights that the Annex does not list?

Yes, under point (ii), when all three conditions are met.

Which instruments does Part I, Section 2 name?

They include the Covenants on civil and political rights and on economic, social and cultural rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the core ILO conventions. Read the Annex for the full list.

Glossary

  • Adverse impact

    An adverse environmental impact or adverse human rights impact.

  • Chain of activities

    Activities of a company’s upstream business partners related to the production of goods or the provision of services by that company, including the design, extraction, sourcing, manufacture, transport, storage and supply of raw materials, products or parts of products and the development of the product or the service; and activities of a company’s downstream business partners related to the distribution, transport and storage of a product of that company, where the business partners carry out those activities for the company or on behalf of the company, and excluding the distribution, transport and storage of a product that is subject to export controls under Regulation (EU) 2021/821 or to the export controls relating to weapons, munitions or war materials, once the export of the product is authorised.

Regulations

  • Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

    The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is Directive (EU) 2024/1760. After Omnibus I, Member States must transpose it by 26 July 2028 and apply it from 26 July 2029, to companies with more than 5,000 employees and EUR 1.5 billion in net worldwide turnover. The Netherlands has a draft bill, the Wivo, which names the ACM as supervisor.

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    Commission adopts guidelines under Article 19(2), points (a), (d) and (e), and guidance on model contractual clauses (Article 18)