Dutch Courage: Amsterdam moves to ban fossil fuel advertisements

Freddie Daley reports:

The ever-progressive city of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, is set to become the first in the world to ban advertising from the fossil fuel and aviation industries. The move became official when a legislative motion was passed on 18th December, supported by the Dutch green party, GroenLinks, and a collection of smaller political parties.

The motion states bluntly that the “excesses of advertising for fossil products, such as for flying holidays for dumping prices or directly for companies working in the fossil fuel industry, should be prohibited” within the city.

The ban is the result of a groundswell in climate and community action from Amsterdam’s citizens. The Reclame Fossielvrij (Fossil Free Advertising) initiative spearheaded and coordinated a letter from over 51 local organisations, all calling on Amsterdam to go fossil free, and took part in a series of discussions with the municipality.

The campaign came to a crescendo last week with the motion passing through city hall, enjoying support from across the political spectrum.

But this is just the beginning: “It is the start of a movement, because parties in the municipal councils of The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht have also indicated in written questions in the city council that they want to explore with Amsterdam whether these harmful advertisements can also be banned in their cities,” said Reclame Fossielvrij coordinator Femke Sleegers.

Before too long, we could see the entire Netherlands follow Amsterdam in ditching Badverts. The Amsterdam ban will cover products related with the coal, oil and gas industries, as well as adverts promoting foreign holidays and flying. It’s also expected that everything from billboards to bus shelters will be included in the ban, as well as large-scale events held by the fossil fuel industry within the city. Once again, the Dutch are showing us all how it’s done.

Not only will this move see the city free of advertisements glorifying climate-wrecking fuels and behaviours, it also presents an opportunity to re-imagine and repurpose the street scape. And the creative hub that is Amsterdam won’t fail to deliver, with its vibrant art and cultural scenes bound to bring colour and genius in equal measure to replace the Badverts. 

Freddie Daley, is a researcher at the University of Sussex and campaigner for Green New Deal UK.

Photo by Jace & Afsoon on Unsplash