Amsterdam’s Ban on Meat and Fossil Fuel Advertising Comes Into Effect

Over 50 cities, mostly European, have either restricted or tabled motions to introduce formal limitations on the advertisement of polluting products and services. Some – including several Dutch municipalities, Stockholm, Edinburgh and Sydney – have banned them altogether.

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A ban on advertising of fossil fuels and meat products in public spaces came into effect on Friday in Amsterdam, marking the first capital city in the world to introduce such a policy.

The city’s council passed a legally binding ban on ads for fossil fuels and meat products in a 27-17 vote in January. The ban spans high-carbon products and services like flights, petrol and diesel vehicles, gas heating contracts as well as meat products like fast-food burgers across all public spaces in the city, including on billdboards, public transport and in transit environments.

The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the single-largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are the primary drivers of global warming as they trap heat in the atmosphere and raise Earth’s surface temperature. The meat industry is also responsible for a huge portion of global greenhouse gas emissions, and for nearly 60% of the food sector’s emissions. The global livestock industry alone is one of the world’s highest emitting sectors, estimated to be responsible for between 14-18% of total human-made greenhouse gas emissions.

“Advertising doesn’t just sell products; it grants social licence, shaping what we see as normal and acceptable,” said Andrea Mancuso, Community & Grants Manager at Creatives for Climate. Ahead of the vote in January, Creatives for Climate and local campaign group Reclame Fossielvrij (Fossil Free Advertising) coordinated an open letter backed by more than 100 creatives and industry leaders urging Amsterdam’s council members to fulfill its 2020 commitment to ban fossil fuels and meat ads in the city.

“Promoting fossil fuels directly undermines climate action and locks in behaviour we know must change. By becoming the first capital to legally ban fossil fuel and meat advertising, Amsterdam is drawing a clear line; and setting a global standard,” said Mancuso.

Global Movement

The Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands, became the first city in the world to ban advertisements promoting high-carbon products such as petrol cars and services such as cruise ships and air travel in 2024.

The Hague’s ban was challenged in court, with ANVR, the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators, and tourism grou TUI arguing that it violated commercial interests and European Union law. But in April 2025, a Dutch court confirmed that local governments can lawfully take necessary climate action, even where it might contradict the economic interests of polluting companies. 

“Just as anti-smoking policies are ineffective when tobacco ads are everywhere, we can’t have effective climate policy while fossil fuel products are promoted on every street corner,” Femke Sleegers of Reclame Fossielvrij said at the time, calling the ruling a “breakthrough”.

To date, over 50 cities, mostly European, have either restricted such ads in specific areas or tabled motions to introduce formal limitations. Some – including several Dutch municipalities, Stockholm, Edinburgh and Sydney – have banned them altogether.

Meanwhile, Spain could soon become the first country in the world to impose a nation-wide ban after the government; last year, the government approved a draft bill that would prohibit the advertising of fossil fuels, fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, and short-haul flights where more sustainable rail alternatives exist.

‘Shameless Greenwashing’

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has previously called on countries to ban fossil fuel advertising in the same way they restricted tobacco. “Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed, even as they have sought to delay climate action – with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies – Mad Men fuelling the madness,” Guterres said in a speech in 2024.

The UN chief said advertising and PR agencies, as well as news media and tech companies, are enabling planetary destruction and urged them to stop promoting fossil fuels and drop existing clients.

“Banning fossil fuel advertising and forcing the PR sector to cut ties with systemically polluting companies is a clear necessity for building a cleaner and fairer future,” ClientEarth Lawyer Johnny White said in response to Guterres’ call. “We can either have a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, or we can have fossil fuel industry influence continuing to permeate our societies and subvert climate action. We can’t have both.”

Photo: Albert Bridge.