The Hague to ban fossil fuel ads from January

City council in third largest city in Netherlands approves the new rules, which will apply from January.

The Hague will ban street advertising for fossil fuels, according to a notice published on the Dutch city’s website, as a number of cities worldwide crack down on publicity for fossil fuels and high-emissions sectors.

The Municipal Council in the third largest city in the Netherlands voted on Thursday to approve the new rules for outdoor advertising, which will apply from January to billboards and freestanding advertising screens.

“The city council of The Hague adopted two proposals to ban fossil advertising in outdoor spaces,” council spokesman Jordy Kruse told the AFP news agency on Friday.

The first proposal informs advertising agencies that fossil fuel advertising is not permitted while the second bans all fossil fuel advertising in public spaces, Kruse said.

“We believe that adopting binding laws to ban fossil fuel advertising through local legislation is a world first,” Leonie Gerritsen, a Hague council member for the Party for Animals.

“We hope that this law will also give a signal to other cities to do the same to fight climate change,” Gerritsen, one of the main drivers of the legislation, told AFP.

Other cities in the world have moved against fossil fuel advertising, but The Hague is the first to enact binding legislation.

In June, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged every country to enact bans on ads for fossil fuel companies, which he called “the godfathers of climate chaos”.

Oil, gas and coal are the biggest contributors to climate change, accounting for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2022, the Dutch city of Haarlem agreed to outlaw ads for intensively farmed meat on public places like buses, shelters and screens.

Many countries have banned advertising for products that have proven harmful to human health, such as tobacco.

The Hague, the country’s administrative centre and the hub of international law, is seeking to be climate neutral by 2030