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Amsterdam has just banned all ads for meat and fossil fuels.
The decision makes Amsterdam the fourth city in the Netherlands and the first capital city in the world to introduce such an advertising ban.
Read more: The Netherlands Has Banned Fireworks To Protect People, Animals, And The Environment
From May 1, 2026, all advertisements for meat, flights, petrol and diesel vehicles, and gas heating contracts will be banned in public spaces across Amsterdam, including on trams, trains, buses, and bus stop shelters, and within train and metro stations.
Corporate advertisements for high-carbon companies (for example, a car producer rather than a car) can continue for now, but will be prohibited from April 2028.
Amsterdam City Council approved the proposal, which came from Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals) and GroenLinks (effectively “GreenLeft”). The decision was welcomed by advocacy groups and nonprofits such as ProVeg.
The proposal was approved despite last-minute lobbying from JCDecaux, the largest outdoor advertising operator in the world with more than 1 million advertising panels in more than 80 countries. The city currently has a contract with the JCDecaux, and corporate advertising will continue until it expires.
‘Fossil fuels and meat are rooted in the advertising industry’
As reported by DeSmog, JCDecaux sent an email to all parties represented on the Amsterdam City Council to warn that the ban would have “far-reaching financial and legal consequences.” The company, which maintains 1,500 bus shelters and other public amenities across the city, warned that services may suffer without ad revenue.
Anke Bakker, Party for the Animals councillor and co-sponsor of the ban, said, “I am confident that they will be able to continue filling the advertising space, but with vegetarian and emission-free products.”
She also noted that the last-minute email from JCDecaux illustrated “how deeply fossil fuels and meat are rooted in the advertising industry.” Bakker added that there was “widespread support in society” for pro-climate ad bans.
Joey Cramer, the director of ProVeg said, “We know that most of the carbon emissions in the food system comes from meat production so it makes sense for Amsterdam to restrict the advertising of meat as part of its strategy to promote food system change. This policy supports Amsterdam’s existing goal of ensuring their citizens’ diets are 50% plant-based by 2050. Such a shift is not only good for the climate, it’s good for people’s health and, of course, for animal.”
Read more: Cutting-Edge Plant-Based Plastic Bag Dissolves In Seawater Leaving No Microplastics
The problem of outdoor advertising
In addition to normalizing harmful industries, campaigners have noted that outdoor advertising can also deepen inequality, distract drivers, harm wildlife, harm mental health, drain resources, erode local culture, and effectively privatize public space.
In the Netherlands, Utrecht, Delft, and The Hague have prohibited fossil fuel advertisements in public settings such as bus shelters. Meanwhile, Zwolle and Nijmegen are also taking steps to limit ads for environmentally destructive products.
Both Utrecht and Zwolle have also moved to ban ads for meat as well as those for fossil fuels. In April, a Dutch court upheld The Hague’s ban against industry challenges, stating that it adhered to EU law and served the public interest.
In 2024, Amsterdam became the first EU capital to endorse the Plant Based Treaty.
Read more: Nearly Half of All Germans Now Consume Plant-Based Milk Products, According to New Survey
