Light pollution has significant detrimental effects on wildlife, human health, and ecosystem functions. This presentation delves into the economic implications of light pollution by examining its impact on the value of global ecosystem services. Using the Simplified All-Sky Light Pollution Ratio (sALR) as a measure of light pollution’s negative impact, and the Copernicus PROBA-V Global Landcover Database to estimate ecosystem service value, we assess how light pollution degrades ecosystem functions.

Our findings reveal that in areas with maximum light pollution, ecosystem service values are reduced by 40%, resulting in an annual global loss of USD 3.4 trillion—approximately 3% of the total global value of ecosystem services and 3% of the global GDP. This talk will also present the distribution of these losses across countries and landcover types, highlighting the urgent need for light pollution mitigation.