Description
Who: Municipality of Zwolle, The Netherlands
What: Passed motion to ban fossil ads by local law, as first municipality in the world. City board is however not too eager, and puts responsibility back with the council to push for a ban via the local ordinance.
When: May 2023 - ongoing
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.
