Ten Dark Sky Policies for the Government

The APPG for Dark Skies’ ‘Ten Dark Sky Policies for the (UK) Government’ was produced following a consultation in which over 170 academics, legal professionals, national park associations, professional and amateur astronomers, members of local and national government, lighting professionals, engineers and businesses. It sets out the major causes of growing light pollution in the UK which threaten dark sky preservation and advocates policy solutions to mitigate or remedy such issues. To revolutionise our approach to light pollution in the UK, fresh ideas are needed across three broad themes: challenging the existing legal framework for the parts of the planning process which regulate light pollution; overhauling the rules applicable to outdoor lighting installations; and introducing new initiatives at every level of government which educate and incentivise the reduction of light pollution and obtrusive light. This policy plan provides a basis for the focus of the APPG’s campaigns in Parliament and calls on the government to implement a set of ten actions which would reverse the exponential growth of environmental pollution caused by artificial light.