Description
Who: Municipality of Utrecht, the Netherlands
What: A proposal was adopted:
- The municipality should talk with advertising agencies about banning fossil ads.
- A fossil ad ban becomes part of future tenders and contracts for ads in public space.
When: December 2021
Utrecht is the first city to ban fossil ads for any new contract or future tender for ads in public space. This includes ads by 'companies in the coal, oil, gas and aviation sector with the products and services fossil fuels, holiday flights/flight tickers, grey electricity and gas contracts, cruise travel and fossil or hybrid fuel engine cars'. The Animal party (PvdD) submitted a proposal that was adopted and supported by the Green party (GroenLinks), Labour party (PvdA), Socialist party (SP), ChristenUnie, DENK and Student&Starter. A first tender including the fossil ad ban is being finalized in 2023.
Adopted change
The council decides:
- Ban fossil advertising from Utrecht's public spaces by:
a. Instructing the board to enter into discussions with the current operators of advertising carriers as well as with applicants for outdoor advertising requiring a permit (advertising on buildings) in Utrecht in order to ban fossil advertisements in public transport stops, freestanding advertising display cases, billboards, lampposts, the advertising mast along the A2 motorway, on roundabouts and on scaffolding sheets, to make agreements to this end and to inform the council of the results within a year;
b. Instruct the council to make a ban on fossil advertising part of the tender documents in future tenders and contracts with future operators of public space advertising.
Read the whole proposal here (in Dutch).
Read the legal briefing that was commissioned and submitted with the proposal here (in Dutch).
