The Hague to become first city to ban fossil fuel ads by law

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The Hague is to become the first city in the world to ban by law advertising promoting fossil fuels, petrol-powered cars, air travel and cruise ships, in the latest wave of crackdowns by cities around the world.

The decision by the council in the administrative center of the Netherlands and the center of international law is significant because, unlike other bans, it does not rely on negotiations to end individual advertising contracts and may be more difficult to overturn.

It will be applied in public spaces, such as billboards and independent screens, and will come into force at the beginning of next year.

The motion voted on Friday sent an “important signal,” said Leonie Gerritsen, a councilor for the Green and animal welfare party PvdD who proposed the ban. The Hague has set a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, compared with a national target of 2050.

“We really hope to start a snowball effect so that local governments can step up if their national governments aren’t doing what’s needed,” Gerritsen said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a global tobacco-like ban on advertising by oil, gas and coal companies, describing them as “godfathers of climate chaos” in an impassioned speech in June.

The move could be more effective than efforts by other cities, including Edinburgh and Amsterdam, over the past two years to align their advertising rules with their broader climate change strategies, campaigners said.

In May, Edinburgh council banned the promotion of high-carbon products on council-owned spaces such as billboards and bus shelters in the Scottish capital.

He described goods such as sports cars and cruise holidays as “incompatible with net zero targets”, echoing similar bans from councils in England including Sheffield, Cambridgeshire and Liverpool.

In Australia, councils such as the City of Sydney have voted to impose a series of restrictions on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship.

Uwe Krüger, a communications expert at Leipzig University, said advertising in the fossil fuel sector had increased sales of high-emission products by “awakening supposed needs in consumers”.