CNAE E — Water, Sewage, Waste Management and Decontamination Activities
Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) criteria from the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy for activities in CNAE sector E.
Do No Significant Harm (DNSH)
DNSH Criteria for CNAE Sector E
Do no significant harm (DNSH)
Objective
Criteria and conditions
Resilience of drinking-water and sewage infrastructure (Brazil, MMA, 2016).
Raw surface-water or groundwater abstraction must ensure ecological¹² and/or environmental¹³ flows meeting minimum aquatic ecosystem criteria and multiple uses of the water source. Activities must comply with environmental legislation and water-use permits, avoiding over-abstraction and ecological harm.
Only projects consistent with permitted uses in Conservation Units (UC), Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) or other legally protected areas are allowed, with demonstrated use of alternatives that minimize environmental impacts.
Activities must align with the National Water Resources Policy (PNRH, Law 9,433/1997), ensuring rational, integrated water use and sufficient availability for present and future generations at quality levels appropriate to each use.
National Environmental Policy (PNMA, Law 6,938/1981) and CONAMA Resolutions 357/2005, 274/2000 and 430/2011.
All activities must align with the National Circular Economy Strategy (ENEC) guidelines and objectives under Decree 12,082/2024.
Activities must align with the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS, Law 12,305/2010), following this waste-management priority: prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, solid-waste treatment and environmentally appropriate final disposal of residual waste.
All systems must meet minimum technical standards for water-supply system design and construction. Water treatment must also meet drinking-water quality requirements under Ordinance GM/MS 888/2021 or applicable regulations in force.
Annex A1: Criteria for doing no significant harm to socioeconomic objective 9.
Source: Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy — CNAE E, original Portuguese notebook.
Additional Information
About this document
These are Enverium’s explanatory English translations of selected criteria from the CNAE E notebook, updated 2026-10-06. They are not an official translation or the full catalogue of activity requirements. Applicability, annexes and footnotes must be checked against the original Portuguese PDF; an N/A entry applies only to the activity covered by the source table.
DNSH Principle
The "Do No Significant Harm" (DNSH) principle is fundamental to the sustainable taxonomy. It establishes that an economic activity, to be considered sustainable, must not cause significant harm to any of the established environmental objectives.