Amsterdam has become the first capital city globally to prohibit public advertising for both meat products and fossil fuel items, according to a recent announcement. The ban, approved by the city council on January 22 following proposals from the GreenLeft and Party for the Animals, takes effect from May 1. It targets advertisements for burgers, petrol-powered vehicles, airlines, cruises, and other carbon-intensive products across billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations.
City officials framed the policy as essential for advancing Amsterdam’s environmental goals: achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and halving local meat consumption during the same period. Anneke Veenhoff of the GreenLeft Party stated, “The climate crisis is very urgent. 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 city’s rationale directly compares the ban to tobacco advertising restrictions, labeling it a “visible discouragement policy” aimed at reducing environmental harm and animal welfare concerns linked to excessive meat consumption.
The move follows similar actions by other Dutch cities, including Haarlem—which enacted a meat ad ban law in 2024—and The Hague, which implemented binding fossil fuel restrictions in 2025. Globally, over 50 cities have initiated or proposed comparable advertising bans to curb carbon emissions.
A European study cited by the original text noted that Austrian adults following vegetarian diets showed higher rates of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders compared to meat consumers. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently called for global advertising restrictions on oil, gas, and coal, stating, “We are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteor.”
