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European sky protection

In view of the fact that the brightness of night landscapes is increasing globally by between 2% and 6% per year, according to the latest studies, endorsed by STARS4ALL, and that an image of Europe taken at night from space shows that night shows that more than 85% of the continent is covered with light, we can conclude that the European Union rules on outdoor lighting contradict European legislation on environmental protection, the EU Environmental Liability Directive (Directive 2004/35/EC) and, in particular, the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC).

Europa por la noche desde el espacio

This lack of control has meant that each member country has taken individual legislative measures, with greater or lesser fortune, with regard to light pollution, an environmental problem of which there is very little social awareness despite the great negative impact it has on our health, ecosystems, habitats, the environment and the celestial geography.

For all these reasons, from Stars4All, we make a petition (nº 0362/2018) to the European Parliament for the adoption of a European legislation against light pollution to which all the Member States have to subscribe:

  • That the light that enters people’s homes involuntarily does not have negative impacts on the circadian rhythm, increasing the risk of suffering from diseases such as cancer, obesity and insomnia.
  • Promote the achievement of climate protection objectives to reduce energy consumption and associated pollution, carbon dioxide emissions and land use changes associated with electricity production.
  • Decrease the risk of accidents due to glare.
  • Protecting Europe’s natural wealth and biodiversity.
  • Promotion of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Future Generations (UNESCO): “Future generations have the right to inherit an undamaged and uncontaminated land, and this includes the right to a pure sky” (1994, Cousteau-UNESCO group).
  • The protection of astronomical observation points for both professional and amateur astronomers.

This proposal to regulate the use and abuse of public lighting aims to achieve:

To support the petition just follow a few simple steps:

  • Check the full text of the petition at this link.
  • Register on the petitions portal of the European Parliament.
  • Once registered, log in to the application portal, go to the application page (number 362/2018) and click on the button at the bottom right to sign the application.
  • Write to contact@stars4all.eu to tell us about it or publish it through our social networks, Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to hear from you