The lights of New York under fire from environmental groups in the middle of Climate Week. As every year, the city brings together activists, politicians and business figures for hundreds of events, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly until 26 September, aimed at reflecting on ways to tackle the environmental crisis.

But the dazzling lights, which make this "city that never sleeps" what it is, have long been a source of frustration for activists. The latter point to a contradiction with the spirit of energy sobriety embodied by this summit meeting.

"I think there's still a long way to go before we see a city that is very bright for what it is, which is a blatant waste of energy and something that has a direct impact on nature," Ruskin Hartley, director of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), which campaigns for the skies to stay dark at night, told AFP.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, outdoor lighting in the U.S. consumes enough energy to power 35 million homes for a year.

New York, the bad student

Estimates by city are hard to come by, but it's clear that New York is one of the worst performers in the U.S., a country that researchers say wastes far more than Europe.

As participants at New York Climate Week discuss a range of environment-related topics, from reducing the carbon footprint of food to art's role in activism, light pollution should be addressed, Hartley argues.

"I think people are looking for ways to make an impact quickly, given the extent of the crisis we are facing. And one of the simplest things we can do is look around and see where we can reduce waste," he adds.

IDA estimates that outdoor lighting that can be seen even in space accounts for 1% of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Nearly 250,000 dead birds

It's not just about wasting energy. New York is located along a bird migration route that millions of birds use each year, said Dustin Partridge, an official with New York City Audubon, an association that advocates for the protection of birds.

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Up to a quarter million birds die from collisions with New York City's buildings each year during spring and fall migration due to widespread use of reflective glass and artificial light pollution. pic.twitter.com/YJ86T55RPs

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Artificial light attracts birds to the city. During the day, they crash into buildings because they see reflections of vegetation in the windows. At night, they fly directly into illuminated windows.

"In New York City, we have about 250,000 birds dying every year in collisions," Partridge said. And Climate Week falls right into the autumn migration.

The seeds they spread are vital to the health of Canada's carbon-sequestering ecosystems, where they begin their journey, to their various destinations in South America.

"You can go out at night in New York and see that there's a simple solution to protect biodiversity and help fight climate change," Partridge said.

The nocturnal "skyline", identity of the city

Yet New York passed a law in 2021 requiring all city-owned buildings to turn off non-essential lights from 23 p.m. to 6 a.m. during spring and fall migrations.

But these represent only a small percentage of all buildings. And a more recent bill introduced in May, which would extend the same rules to private and industrial buildings, is still before the city assembly.

Critics point out that New York's iconic nighttime skyline is essential to the city's identity. To this, activists respond by citing European cities that have started turning off their lamps when the majority of the population is sleeping. Like Paris, the "City of Light".

With AFP

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