Public Policy – Light Pollution

January 12, 2024Manifesto for Tackling Light Pollution & Proposing EU Light Pollution Monitoring – The document is a comprehensive guide addressing the multifaceted impacts of light pollution in the EU.  It emphasizes the need for cohesive measures to mitigate these impacts and proposes strategies for monitoring and reducing light pollution. Key points include recognizing light as an environmental pollutant, integrating light pollution into the EU environmental regulatory framework, and implementing monitoring networks. The manifesto calls for public awareness campaigns, interdisciplinary engagement for policy development, and the inclusion of light pollution measures in international frameworks.

November 4, 2022Healthier and Environmentally Responsible Sustainable Cities and Communities. A New Design Framework and Planning Approach for Urban Illumination – Mentions that LEDs emit non-uniform luminance and that metrics for LED light are invalid.

February, 2021A Bright Idea? – LightAware Charity report on Health, Social, and Environmental impacts of LED light.

January, 2021Recommendations to Keep Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society – United Nations – “If phosphor-converted amber LED or white LED lights are used, the amount of blue light (λ < 500 nm) should be below 5 per cent of the total spectral power. Generally, this requires using LED luminaires with a correlated colour temperature of 2200K or less.”

2020National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife Including Marine Turtles, Seabirds and Migratory Shorebirds – Australia Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Start with natural darkness and only add light for specific purposes.

2019French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety – Effects on human health and the environment (fauna and flora) of systems using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) – “limit their exposure to blue-rich lighting”

2019French Light Pollution Law – French Government. CCT threshold at 2700K for the “built environment” of towns and villages, and 2400K otherwise.

2018France Adopts National Light Policy France has understood that lighting needs to be restricted and they have implemented this very important decree. In the the decree, France sets 3000K color temperature as an absolute maximum, with a maximum of 2400K for wildlife areas. The decree also sets restrictions on the amount of light, the direction of the light and time of day for the light. Use this information to urge your own government to adopt a similar or even stricter policy.

United Kingdom – Artificial Light Nuisance