Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the impacts of light pollution on (a) biodiversity and (b) human health.

Defra has funded or co-funded national and international assessments of drivers of change on insects and wider biodiversity such as the global IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production. This report notes the effects of artificial light on nocturnal insects may be growing.

Defra has worked with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework is clear that policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution on local amenity, dark landscapes and nature conservation.

Furthermore, Defra has contributed to the development of the DLUHC Planning Policy Guidance on light pollution, published in November 2019, which emphasises the importance of getting the right light in the right place at the right time and sets out the factors that are relevant when considering the ecological impacts of lighting.

A range of measures are in place to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through controls in the planning system, the statutory nuisance regime and improvements in street lighting.

We continue to work with partners including leading scientists to review the latest studies related to light pollution and ensure we continue to address key threats to biodiversity.

As regards to the effects of light pollution on human health, specific research is limited. In 2018, the European Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks published an opinion on Potential risks to human health of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). It concluded that there is no evidence of direct adverse health effects from LEDs in normal use (lighting and displays) by the general healthy population. Full report can be found here: https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2019-02/scheer_o_011_0.pdf