The Hague Breaks New Ground With Ban on Fossil Fuel Advertising

In a speech in June of this year, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that fossil fuel companies, the “godfathers of climate chaos,” should be treated much the way tobacco companies are in many countries — with bans on advertising.

“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,” he said. “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising.”

A few months later, one city is leading that charge. Legislators in the Dutch city of the Hague voted on Thursday to enact a ban on any advertising for gasoline or diesel fuel, as well as for aviation or cruise ships. The ban, which goes into effect at the start of next year, covers everywhere on the streets of the city, including bus shelters and billboards. It is the first of its kind in the world.

Other cities, like Edinburgh in Scotland, have passed more limited bans before, restricted to only publicly owned advertising real estate. Though obviously limited in reach, the Hague’s move seems to at least inch the Overton window slightly away from the assumption that fossil fuel companies are just like any other. They very much are not.

“We must directly confront those in the fossil fuel industry who have shown relentless zeal for obstructing progress – over decades,” Guterres said in June. “Billions of dollars have been thrown at distorting the truth, deceiving the public, and sowing doubt.”