Amsterdam bans advertising for meat and fossil fuels in public places to discourage high-carbon lifestyle

Amsterdam, a city known for its tolerance of some drugs and sex work, has become the first capital city in the world to ban meat and fossil fuels from public advertisements. The effort aims to discourage people from spending money on products linked to high carbon emissions. 

Since May 1, ads for products including meat, as well as for airlines and for cars that run on gasoline, are no longer allowed in the city, after a legislative initiative from the GreenLeft and Party for the Animals political parties.

“If you spend lots of tax money and have lots of policies trying to manage climate change in Amsterdam, why would you rent out your public walls to exactly the opposite?” said Anneke Veenhoff, a city councillor from GreenLeft.

“If you’re trying to get rid of an addiction, it’s not very handy to see it everywhere,” she said.

The Amsterdam ban also cover ads for cruises and faraway holiday destinations, as well as for beef, chicken, pork and fish products. 

In 2022, the Dutch city of Haarlem became the first in the world to announce a ban on most meat advertisements in public spaces. It became law two years later, along with a ban on fossil fuel ads.

The Hague, also in The Netherlands, became the first city in the world to enshrine a legally-binding fossil fuel ban in 2025.

Opposition to these moves has come from groups including the Dutch Advertisers’ Association, which said last October that such bans “do not align with fundamental principles of commercial communication and freedom of expression.”

The Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators called the Amsterdam ban a disproportionate curb on commercial freedom, while the Dutch Meat Association said it was an undesirable attempt to influence consumer behavior. 

Around the world, more than 50 cities have banned or are moving to ban ads on fossil fuel and meat products, in a push to decrease global carbon consumption.

In June 2024, the head of the U.N. Antonio Guterres called for a ban on advertising of oil, gas and coal as climate change continued to ravage the globe. 

“In the case of climate, we are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteor,” he said. “We are not only in danger. We are the danger.”