Description
What, when, where:
- In a policy passed on 14th September 2026, Bristol City Council has introduced restrictions on advertising for polluting sectors including ultra-fast fashion, SUVs, airlines, cruises and fossil fuels on council-owned ad sites.
- The policy will go into effect immediately.
- Bristol becomes the first municipality in the UK to ban adverts promoting ultra-fast fashion.
Deputy Leader of Bristol City Council, Councillor Heather Mack, who spearheaded the policy, said: “We don’t want Bristol to be a billboard for polluters while we’re working hard to improve health, air quality and nature in the city. We’re proud to be thinking holistically about the changes we need to keep Bristol green and thriving.”
Carla Denyer, MP for Bristol Central, who worked on the pioneering earlier ad ban for junk food and other harmful products in Bristol, said: “I am so pleased that the council has now taken this much-needed next step and added high-carbon products and services to the list of things that will not be advertised on council-owned space.
“Our Green-led council is making huge strides on Bristol’s climate and sustainability commitments, working on public transport infrastructure, home heating and community energy. It makes no sense for these efforts to be running alongside advertisements for things like oil and gas companies, SUVs or fast fashion which do not align with our community values.
The council’s policy aims to make room for the promotion of more sustainable forms of transport, travel and holidays. The policy will apply to all council-owned advertising space, including billboards, bus stop shelters, print and online. Advertising that promotes fossil fuel-powered cars, SUVs, airlines and cruises will be removed since these forms of transport typically produce high levels of pollution. However, the promotion of UK-based holidays and more sustainable methods of travel, such as trains, will be encouraged. Councillors said there was a “moral argument” for banning ads for industries that are harmful. In Bristol, 83% of residents are concerned about climate change, according to the most recent Quality of Life survey (2024-2025).
Bristol City Council’s previous Advertising and Sponsorship policy, introduced in 2021, banned advertising for unhealthy food, gambling, alcohol and pay-day loans. It is now the first council in the UK to place restrictions on advertising that promotes ultra-fast fashion. More than 20 UK councils, including Sheffield, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Portsmouth, have now introduced curbs on ads for products and services that are particularly polluting, citing their incompatibility with goals to improve air quality and reduce climate-harming emissions.
The definitions of new types of advertising which will be banned are as follows:
- ‘Promotion or availability of weapons and weapons manufacturers, gambling or illegal drugs and unlicenced drugs, or drugs where advertising is already prohibited by law’
- ‘Promotion or availability of food and drinks marketed at 6–36-month-olds that are deemed to be harmful to babies and infants, defined by the World Health Organisation’s Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model. This includes advertisements where there is a range of food/drink featured, some of which fails the NPPM evaluation’
- ‘Promotion or availability of petrol, diesel and hybrid electric plug-in vehicles, and all vehicles where the DVLA manufacture-reported model is an ‘SUV’ (including EV models and different styles of SUV, such as ‘SUV Coupe’, ‘SUV Estate’, or others)
- ‘Promotion or availability of flights, airports, cruise holidays and travel agents’
- ‘Promotion of firms and associated sub-brands or lobbying organisations that extract, refine, produce, supply, distribute or sell any fossil fuels’
- ‘Marketing campaigns that encourage excessive consumption of fashion products or trends, defined as: campaigns that centre on mass markdowns, limited time offers and offer codes, influencer promotions, limited time collections or ‘drops’, and mass sales (including ‘Black Friday’ promotions).’
