It’s an old sea serpent that Agnès Pannier-Runacher woke up last weekend. In an interview at Sunday newspaper, the Minister for Energy Transition is announcing, in the coming days, a decree aimed at generalizing the ban on illuminated advertisements in France. In the viewfinder, the signs, pre-signs and billboards – there would be 3.5 million – which still remain too regularly lit all night, even when there is no longer a cat in the streets.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher ranks this practice among those which “rightly” shock the French. However, in theory, it should not have run for years already.
A need to harmonize the rules?
From the Grenelle II law of July 2010, the impacts of these artificial lights on health and the biodiversity, but also the waste of energy they represent, are beginning to be taken into account. the decree of January 25, 2012 imposes the extinction of illuminated advertising and illuminated signs at least between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. “It was to apply from July 1, 2012, says Anne-Marie Ducroux. But very quickly, compliance for existing lighting installations was postponed for six years, without any real justification,” laments Anne-Marie Ducroux, president of the National Association for the Protection of the Night Sky and Environment (ANPCEN). The decree will therefore not fully come into force until July 1, 2018. This does not change anything on the ground. The lack of educational work and controls means that the text has never really been applied, regularly criticize environmental associations.
So, what will change the decree that Agnès Pannier-Runacher is preparing? The contours remain vague, indicates the ministry itself. The idea is to introduce the same switch-off rule – between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. – in all municipalities in France. The current regulations indeed set apart agglomerations of more than 800,000 inhabitants, in which the rules are set by the local advertising regulations (RLP). Anne-Marie Ducroux struggles to see the real progress: “The decree of January 30, 2012 already specifies that these RLP can only be more restrictive than the national rule”. Clearly, these large agglomerations can only be more ambitious. Like the metropolis of Grenoble, where luminous signs must be extinguished between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. since February 2020. Those of Lyon, Nantes or Rennes have just made similar arrangements.
Already apply existing texts
But these examples are too rare for the ministry. “Only 6% of the municipalities have adopted a regulation to this effect”, it is specified to justify this need to harmonize the rules of extinction. In addition, the decree in preparation would increase the penalties in the event of non-compliance, up to 1,500 euros (5th class contravention) against 750 euros until then. The contributions remain low according to Anne-Marie Ducroux, who would have preferred, for example, that Agnès Pannier-Runacher extend the times of extinction. “From 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.”
Be that as it may, both for the president of ANPCEN and for the environmental geographer Samuel Challeatresearcher at the Geode laboratory (Toulouse/CNRS), the priority is no longer so much the publication of a new text as the enforcement, finally, of existing ones. “By making the number of checks and penalties public each year,” insists Anne-Marie Ducroux.
France not better on other light sources?
This requirement does not only apply to illuminated advertising. On March 28, 2018, seized by associations, including ANPCEN,the Council of State condemned France for its inaction in the fight against light pollution in general. The government had an obligation to complete the regulations within nine months. “What he will do by a decree of December 2018 by focusing on various light sources, resumes Anne-Marie Ducroux. From the lighting of parks and gardens to that of car parks and construction sites, through the illumination of heritage, unoccupied offices or shop windows. But it will be necessary to wait until 2025 for this order to come into full effect. And for the parts of the regulation that already apply, the NGOs point out again and again the absence of controls. “Both from the State on municipal lighting installations and from local authorities on all the others”, specifies Anne-Marie Ducroux.
Samuel Challéat evokes several factors to explain this wait-and-see attitude. “There is still a lack of knowledge of the regulations, both of local elected officials and of the actors, he begins. The vagueness and the technicality of the texts do not help. Added, no doubt, the interests of each other. Those of merchants, who feel aggrieved and do not want to comply, those also of elected officials who do not want to alienate their merchants. For her part, Anne-Marie Ducroux points above all to the inertia of the State. “If only because the teams at the ministry are constantly changing, and with them the priorities”.
“Questioning our need for darkness”
Agnès Pannier-Runnacher’s announcement suggests that light pollution is once again at the top of the pile of files. Anne-Marie Ducroux remains skeptical. “Light advertising is only part of light pollution,” she recalls. Small, even, compared to public lighting, on which many municipalities are beginning to act, but where there is still much to do. »
Dany Lapostolle, teacher-researcher in planning and urban planning at the University of Burgundy, tick also on the angle chosen by the Minister: “that of energy savings”. “Turn off illuminated signs between 1am and 6am will save the equivalent of the average annual electricity consumption of 110,000 homes”, effectively highlights the ministry.
“In other words, it is more economic than ecological reasons that pushes the government to seize the subject”, resumes Dany Lapostolle. Just as much as Samuel Challéat, he regrets this hierarchy. “It is difficult to perceive light pollution as such, with documented impacts on health and biodiversity”, point out the two researchers. And to call for a paradigm shift. “We only question our need for light, for the safety of goods and people, they continue. Rarely do we question our need for darkness, in the name of environmental and health security. »
Ever-increasing light pollution?
On a global scale, the increase in light pollution was estimated, between 2012 and 2016, at 2.2% per year, in terms of artificially lit surfaces, and also 2%, over the same period, for is the light intensity of the illuminated areas,” says Samuel Challéat. This growth can be much higher in rapidly urbanizing corners of the globe. “It’s clear for India that we have seen to light up in a phenomenal way, in recent years, on satellite images”, illustrates the geographer.
In Europe, the damage is already done in some way. “Light pollution currently affects 23% of the submerged lands of the globe and 88% of those in Europe”, continues Samuel Challéat. In France, to date we have not succeeded in reversing the trend. “Light pollution continues to spread, simply because urban sprawl continues,” continues the researcher. When you spread out the city, you also spread out its infrastructures, starting with its roads, which you light up. But light pollution is not only increasing on the surface in France, but also in intensity. This is the perverse effect of LED technology, “which allows you to light more while consuming less”, recalls Samuel Challéat. In other words: a good point for our energy consumption, but a bad one for the preservation of wildlife.