Thema VIII Guideline against light pollution
Contents of this page:
-
Description of the effects of light pollution
- Guideline against light pollution - for municipal use
- Legal regulations on light pollution from the Scientific Service of the German Bundestags
- Guideline against light pollution of the city of Fulda from 2019
- Space images show light pollution
JM 24.06.2025
1. Description of the effects of light pollution
Protection for people, nature and the night sky - realisable at local level.
Increasing light pollution is an often underestimated problem of our time. More and more artificial light is penetrating the night and affecting not only the natural balance for humans and the environment, but also wildlife and the view of our starry skies.
Our guideline against light pollution offers cities and municipalities a compact, practical guide to implementing local measures against excessive and incorrect lighting - flexibly and comprehensibly.
Why light pollution is a problem
Artificial lighting has become an integral part of our everyday lives. But too much, too bright or incorrectly focussed lighting has consequences:
- Harm to human health due to disturbed sleep-wake rhythm
- Threat to biodiversity, especially for nocturnal animals and insects
- Waste of energy and unnecessary CO₂ emissions
- Loss of the natural night sky, including for astronomical observations
The good news is that a lot can be achieved with simple, targeted measures - without any loss of safety or comfort.
Aim of the guideline
The aim of the guideline is to provide local authorities with a tried and tested basic framework that can be adapted to local circumstances - without changing the fundamental principles.
- It is summarised on just four pages and is easy to understand.
- It can be directly adopted or adapted by cities, municipalities or districts.
- It is based on existing regulations, such as those from Fulda or the recommendations of the Bundestag's Scientific Service.
It is technology-neutral: it is about the how, not the what.
2. Guideline against light pollution - for municipal use
Enclosed is a guideline based on various countries. It was important to write it as simply as possible and therefore only requires 4 pages. Local authorities can copy these and adapt them with their own data without changing the basis.
3. Legal regulations on light pollution from the Scientific Service of the German Bundestag
This overview was published by the Research Service of the German Bundestag.
Legal regulations on the restriction of lighting in Germany and selected European countries. (in german)
4. Guideline against light pollution of the city of Fulda from 2019
In 2019, the city of Fulda drew up a guideline against light pollution, which was also the basis for the guideline.
5. Space images show light pollution
In many countries there are already guidelines, laws, etc. that are intended to limit light pollution.
There are many documents and studies showing that the ever brighter world is having a harmful effect on both humans and nature. Images of the Earth at night from space also show the effects of our light sources. Here are two space images from 2012.
Europe area
Area Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
If you find any errors, we are grateful for any advice.