Description
Who: Municipality of Leiden, the Netherlands
What: Motion that prepares a fossil ad ban through the ordinance
Which ads: Air travel, cruise travel, fossil fueled cars, hybrid cars, fossil gas, fossil electricity, gasoline,
When: 16 June 2025
Zwolle bans fossil advertising via ordinance
The Zwolle city council just adopted an amendment to include a ban on fossil advertising in the General Local Bye-Law (APV).
The amendment brings the ban on fossil advertising into the APV from 1 January 2026.
Fossil advertising undermines
‘The Hague has pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for us,’ said Joey Boon of GroenLinks Zwolle. ‘As a result, we in Zwolle will no longer earn from the fossil industry undermining our climate goals through advertising in our own bus shelters.’
Delighted
Advertising Fossil Free is delighted. ‘Zwolle has wanted this for two years,’ said Rosanne Rootert. "Strengthened by the court ruling in The Hague, it is now becoming a reality. An important step to reduce emissions that are harmful to health and the climate."
First ever
In 2023, Zwolle was the first municipality to pass a motion to ban fossil advertisements via the APV. In 2024, the council discouraged the advertising ban because it did not want to lead the way due to legal proceedings. This gave the municipality of The Hague the scoop of being the first in the world with a legally regulated ban on fossil advertising.
Not appealed
The travel industry (ANVR, TUI, D-reizen and Prijsvrij) instituted summary proceedings against the municipality. However, the court ruled in favour of The Hague on all points: a municipality may place restrictions on advertisements if they harm public interests such as health and climate. The travel industry did not appeal the ruling.
The municipal councils in Utrecht, Delft, Nijmegen and in Leiden, via a motion, instructed the college to include the advertising ban in the regulation.
What happened before
June 2024: a local law is possible, but the city board doesn't dare to implement it
Zwolle city council passed a motion for a ban on fossil advertising in May 2023. Yet the city board now does not dare to include a fossil advertising ban in the local law, as of June 2024.
The college cites legal complexities and the fear for courtcases as the reason, as one advertising operator already threatened the city with legal procedures. However, legal experts have repeatedly made it clear that banning fossil advertising is legally possible, including those who wrote a legal advice on behalf of the Zwolle city board recently. Professors from the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit, among others, have previously indicated that an advertising ban at the municipal level is perfectly possible. Additionally, legal experts have argued that courtcases by ad operators would have very little standing and would most probably fail. Numerous cities around the world have banned certain or all outdoor ads, and no courtcase has been able to stop them.
So for now, the city board and the city council disagree. However, this does not mean that the advertising ban is not going to happen. Councillors can still choose to reject the college's proposal and put a ban on the table again. To be continued...
May 2023: motion to ban fossil ads by law passed
Zwolle city council has passed a motion to ban fossil advertising via the local ordinance. This makes Zwolle the 1st Dutch municipality - and possibly even the 1st worldwide - to ban fossil advertising via a local law. The council will work on drafting the ordinance in the coming weeks.
Joey Boon, councillor for GroenLinks (Green party) and author of the motion: "This fits in with the municipality's climate goals and it is a clear signal to the Netherlands. If it is up to GroenLinks, the municipality will soon earn no more money from fossil advertising." The motion was filed with support from the Labour Party (PvdA), Volt, the Animal Party (PvdD), Socialist Party (SP) and ChristenUnie, by which a majority was met.
Unique motion
According to Dutch campaign group Advertising Fossil Free, banning fossil ads via the local ordinance is also the most effective way for municipalities. Campaigner Rosanne Rootert: "Municipalities can draw up local laws, such as the 'APV'. A ban on fossil advertising can be part of these local ordinances. This has an immediate effect: advertising operators will have to comply with the law like everyone else."
Operators generally unwilling
Previous motions in other Dutch municipalities often led to outcomes that go via private law, for instance a ban on fossil ads in new contracts. The downside of this is that many of the contracts with advertising operators run for a long time, sometimes more than 10 years. Fossil advertisements will still be allowed and seen in that time. In Utrecht, where a contract recently expired, it has already been included in the new tender.
Other municipalities choose to enter into talks with operators. These generally turn out to be unwilling. Only in Amsterdam did such a conversation lead to a covenant with an advertising operator in the metro stops. There, certain fossil advertisements can now no longer be seen.
