The Hague has made history by passing legislation that makes it illegal to advertise fossil fuel products and high-carbon services anywhere in the Dutch city. The law — the first of its kind in the world — bans public and private advertising for petrol, diesel, aviation, and cruise ships on billboards, bus shelters, and other outdoor spaces. It takes effect at the start of 2025 C.E.
At a glance
- Fossil fuel ad ban: The Hague’s new ordinance is the first legally binding city-level prohibition on advertising fossil fuel products and high-carbon services anywhere in the world.
- High-carbon advertising: The law covers petrol, diesel, aviation, and cruise ship promotions on outdoor spaces — both publicly and privately funded — but does not apply to political ads or general brand campaigns.
- Global momentum: Cities including Toronto, Graz, and Amsterdam are now watching The Hague closely, with similar proposals already in motion.
Two years in the making
The ban took two years to pass and follows years of failed voluntary efforts. Previous attempts to limit fossil fuel advertising in The Hague stalled because advertising operators simply refused to comply.
That pattern is why the legal route matters. Femke Sleegers of Reclame Fossielvrij, the Dutch fossil-free advertising group that helped build the campaign, put it plainly: “The Hague shows the courage needed to tackle the climate crisis.”
The decision also comes after UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments and media to ban fossil fuel advertising the same way they have banned tobacco advertising — a comparison that has increasingly shaped the debate.
Why advertising policy matters for climate
It might seem like a small step. Banning a billboard doesn’t shut down an oil field. But researchers who study behavior and climate policy say advertising does real damage — not just by promoting specific products, but by quietly normalizing them.
Thijs Bouman, an associate professor in environmental psychology at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, argues that fossil fuel advertising actively undermines climate policy. “Major government investments are needed to counteract the negative effect of fossil advertising,” he said. “If fossil advertising is banned, these resources can be better deployed, for example to strengthen sustainable options and facilities such as public transport.”
The logic mirrors what public health advocates learned with tobacco. Advertising doesn’t just sell cigarettes — it builds a cultural environment where smoking seems ordinary and acceptable. High-carbon advertising works the same way, making fossil-fuel-powered choices feel like the obvious default rather than a costly and shrinking option.
Other cities are already moving
The Hague isn’t entirely alone. Edinburgh’s council agreed in May 2024 C.E. to ban fossil fuel company advertising on council-owned spaces — covering airlines, airports, fossil-fuel-powered cars, and cruise ships, and prohibiting sponsorship deals. But that decision was a council motion, not legislation. It applies only to council-owned property and carries no legal penalties.
Amsterdam and Haarlem have both experimented with banning high-carbon products — including, notably, meat advertising — but stopped short of enshrining those bans in law. A local ordinance has since been proposed in Amsterdam.
The significance of The Hague’s move is that it creates a legal template. “More cities have a wish to implement the fossil ad ban through ordinance, but they were all waiting for some other city to go first,” said Sleegers. “The Hague is this city.”
Toronto and Graz are among the cities now watching closely. A growing international campaign has been pushing for fossil fuel ad bans modeled on tobacco precedent, and The Hague’s law gives that movement its first concrete legal victory to point to.
What the law doesn’t cover
It’s worth being clear about the limits. The Hague’s ban covers products and services with a high carbon footprint — but it does not touch political advertising by the fossil fuel industry or general brand promotion. A campaign advertising a company’s overall image, without referencing specific high-carbon products, falls outside the law’s reach. Enforcement and scope will need to be tested over time, and how the city handles edge cases will matter for whether other cities follow with confidence.
Still, the passage of a legally binding ordinance — after years of industry non-compliance with voluntary agreements — is a meaningful shift. It signals that cities don’t have to wait for national governments to act, and that local legislative tools exist to reshape the commercial environment around climate.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Guardian
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- The Good News for Humankind archive on climate change
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