The capital city of the Netherlands will no longer allow public ads for meat, gas-powered vehicles, commercial airlines, or other high-carbon-producing products.
Amsterdam rolled out the ban this month to alter social attitudes toward products lawmakers believe contribute to a growing “climate crisis.” Left-wing parties GreenLeft and Party for the Animals led the campaign.
“The climate crisis is very urgent,” GreenLeft Party member Anneke Veenhoff said of the ban. “If you want to be leading in climate policies and you rent out your walls to exactly the opposite, then what are you doing?”
The ban was first approved by a city council vote in January, but implementation was held up in court after a Dutch trade association and several travel agencies lodged complaints that it violated freedom of speech principles and European consumer law.
The district court of The Hague ruled late last month that the ban was justified by the “general health interests of citizens” and that the court was not in a position to overrule the vote for the sake of advertisers.
“It is not up to the Municipality to refrain from taking measures to promote the health of its residents in order to strengthen the future [financial] position of travel providers,” the ruling stated.
Supporters say removing advertisements that entice bystanders on the street or in the subway will help the city reach its goal of total carbon neutrality by 2050.
Leaning on the supposed health benefits of carbon reduction, proponents have also compared the ban to municipal policies against tobacco advertising.
Party for the Animals member Anke Bakker told the BBC that the new law is actually “giving people more freedom” because “they can make their own choice.”
“Everybody can just make their own decisions, but actually we are trying to get the big companies not to tell us all the time what we need to eat and buy,” she said.
Party for the Animals describes itself as the “first successful political party in the world that does not put the short-term interests of man in the pivotal position.” The party asserts, “After the liberation of enslaved people and women, and giving rights to children, the next logical step is to take the interests of animals seriously.”
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Robert Barker, a deputy mayor and alderman of The Hague, is also a member of the Party for Animals. He believes the ruling will now liberate municipalities across the country to implement similar bans.
“This court ruling marks a milestone. It shows that municipalities are not powerless, but do in fact have tools to tackle the climate crisis,” Barker said. “It would be great if many more cities around the world followed suit, each making their own contribution to a better, more sustainable future.”
