No more fossil ads in our public spaces!
Fossil advertising is all around us. It promotes what we need less of, from air travel to cruises and fossil cars. These ads actively stimulate demand for high-carbon products and services and they normalize polluting lifestyles.
Defending the ban
When The Hague made history and became the world's first to ban fossil fuel ads from public spaces through a binding regulation, major travel companies fought back. Previous local bans were just contractual arrangements; The Hague actually put it in their law. Travel companies took the municipality to court. But the city didn't stand alone. When Reclame Fossielvrij stepped in to defend the ban, we backed them.
And we won!
The court dismissed all arguments brought by the travel companies. For instance, the muncipality has the authority to adopt an ad ban under Dutch law and has shown that it can contribute to local public health and to mitigation of climate change. Additionally, no violation of freedom of speech was found. This was not only great news, it also confirmed that government bodies can play a major part in enacting regulations that contribute to climate mitigation.
