2023-01-25 23:00:00
During its meeting on Thursday January 26, 2023, the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (OPECST) adopted a scientific note on light pollution, presented by Annick Jacquemet, Senator.
Global population growth and urbanization have led to an explosion in anthropogenic light emissions. From the 2000s, the strong diffusion of LEDs further increased these emissions due to the increase in the number of light points and the quantity of light emitted. The brightness of the global sky related to artificial light at night has increased by regarding 10% per year since 2010.
Long underestimated, light pollution has many harmful effects: it disrupts the natural cycles of light and darkness that structure the living world, fragments habitats and contributes to the decline of biodiversity; it compromises stargazing, contributes to energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions; by exposing to blue light sources and creating a phototoxic risk for the retina linked to certain unregulated LED lighting (torches, headlights), it raises real concerns in terms of public health.
Also, in 2009, France adopted ambitious national regulations to limit light pollution, but its effectiveness is limited because it is not applied for lack of control. Annick Jacquemet emphasized: “Energy renovation using LEDs will only make it possible to fight light pollution effectively if it is accompanied by a prior reflection on the purpose of the lighting and on its real usefulness with regard to the proven needs of the inhabitants..
The note is accessible on the OPECST web pages on the sites of the National Assembly and the Senate.
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