Light pollution

Darkness is increasingly being displaced by artificial light. This may increase safety in many places, but it also has undesirable side effects. These include affecting the habitats of nocturnal animals as well as the visual night landscape, negatively affecting the hormonal systems of humans and animals, and wasting energy. Light pollution refers to harmful or annoying immissions of artificial light, which fall under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act.

The Office for the Environment bases its assessment of light emissions on the Swiss enforcement aid on light emissions (enforcement aid no. 2117 "Recommendations for the avoidance of light emissions", FOEN 2021) and in particular on the 7-point plans contained therein.

Further information as well as the above mentioned enforcement aid can be found on the Website of the FOEN