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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of modern LED streetlights on the behaviour of nocturnal moths.

Protecting insects is a priority, and we are taking action to support them and the wider natural environment of which they are a vital component. Our commitment to setting a legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 underlines our ambition.

Defra has published or contributed to a range of national and global assessments of the pressures on insects and wider biodiversity, including on the impacts of artificial light. We welcome recently published research on the impacts of sodium and LED lighting on the local abundance and distribution of caterpillars. We will continue to work closely with researchers, NGOs and across the Government to improve our understanding of the impacts of light pollution.

The Government is taking action to ensure that light pollution is managed for wildlife and for people, through controls in the planning system, the statutory nuisance regime and improvements in street lighting.