Lights Out! London Mayor must tackle light pollution

Light pollution in London is as bad as ever: only 1% of Londoners enjoy the wonders of a truly dark sky. We’re asking candidates for the 2024 London Mayoral election to run a voluntary #LightsOut campaign to tackle damaging light pollution and reduce energy wastage, with 10,000 business properties signed up by 2026 (that’s just 300 businesses in each London borough).

CPRE London promotes action on light pollution. We want the Mayor to establish a London-based dark sky designation framework and targets to reduce light pollution. They should promote best practice guidance for lighting design in London to reduce light pollution, and to safeguard and extend dark sky areas, as well as support and boroughs to use appropriate street lighting. We’ve previously set out detail on action needed to tackle light pollution in London.

What’s the problem? 

Unnecessary light pollution reduces our view of the stars at night to the extent that most Londoners are deprived of the beauty of star filled night skies and many children growing up in London will never experience a starry sky. Light pollution also has a negative impact on nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife and human health, and is a waste of energy.

• Artificial light is known to cause confusion to migrating birds, often with fatal outcomes. It interrupts natural rhythms, including the reproduction, feeding and sleeping patterns of pollinating insects, bats and other nocturnal animals. 
• In humans, studies show exposure to light at night interrupts sleep and can disrupt the body’s production of melatonin, a brain hormone best known for its daily role in resetting the body’s biological clock.
• Added to this, unnecessary lighting of buildings at night and even during the day is a huge waste of energy, unnecessarily increasing the dangerous emissions which are leading to global warming.

But light pollution is not inevitable: there’s much that can be done right now.

• Everyone can switch off lights, but owners of buildings where lighting is left on unnecessarily should switch lights off or install movement sensors so lights are off when not in use.
• Boroughs and the London Mayor can and should promote and implement best practice design for reducing light pollution. More on action needed to tackle light pollution in London.

Read more

• Read the Star Count 2023 results on the national CPRE website.
• CPRE London endorses the Local Authorities, Communities and Dark Skies Toolkit – from the UK Dark Skies Partnership
• Read about the international campaign for dark skies on the DarkSky International website
• Read about action on light pollution in the Lake District
• Read about the South Downs Dark Sky Festival 2024  

And finally… here is the French parkour group switching off lights!