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Glossary termPublished inCSDDD

Severe adverse impact

What does "Severe adverse impact" mean under the CSDDD?

An adverse impact that is especially significant on account of its nature, such as an impact that entails harm to human life, health or liberty, or on account of its scale, scope or irremediable character, taking into account its gravity, including the number of individuals that are or may be affected, the extent to which the environment is or may be damaged or otherwise affected, its irreversibility and the limits on the ability to restore affected individuals or the environment to a situation equivalent to their situation prior to the impact within a reasonable period of time

Defined in / by

Last updated: 13 October 2026.

Severe set against severity

The Directive defines the severity of an adverse impact separately, in point (v), as the scale, scope or irremediable character of the impact, with the same gravity factors. Side by side, the two texts differ in one place. A severe adverse impact is one that is especially significant, and it can be so on account of its nature, with harm to human life, health or liberty given as the example, as well as on account of scale, scope or irremediable character. Severity measures an impact. Severe is a threshold. Nature appears in the threshold and not in the measure.

The term is used in Article 14, the complaints procedure. It appears in the right to meet the company's representatives at an appropriate level to discuss actual or potential severe adverse impacts that are the subject matter of the complaint, and potential remediation. Directive (EU) 2026/470 left Article 14 unchanged.

The definition names the factors that make an impact severe: the number of individuals affected or who may be, the extent to which the environment is or may be damaged, its irreversibility, and the limits on restoring people or the environment to their earlier situation within a reasonable period of time.

Questions and answers

Is a severe adverse impact the same as severity?

No. Severity is a measure of any adverse impact. A severe adverse impact is one that reaches the threshold in point (l).

Where does the Directive use the term?

Article 14, on the complaints procedure.

Glossary

  • Severity of an adverse impact

    The scale, scope or irremediable character of the adverse impact, taking into account the gravity of an adverse impact, including the number of individuals that are or may be affected, the extent to which the environment is or may be damaged or otherwise affected, its irreversibility and the limits on the ability to restore affected individuals or the environment to a situation equivalent to their situation prior to the impact within a reasonable period of time.

  • Adverse impact

    An adverse environmental impact or adverse human rights impact.

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)