Amsterdam is set to ban outdoor advertising for fossil fuels and meat products across the city, after councillors voted to toughen local bylaws in the name of climate policy.
Under the new rules, due to take effect on May 1, 2026, adverts for meat and fossil fuels would be barred from billboards, bus shelters, and other public spaces. Shops will still be allowed to advertise their own products on their premises.
City officials admit the move could land Amsterdam in court. During the council debate, alderwoman for public space Melanie van der Horst warned the ban may clash with long-term advertising contracts, potentially opening the door to legal claims from operators.
She also acknowledged that the scale of the problem is limited. City figures show meat advertising makes up just 0.1 per cent of outdoor ads, while fossil fuel advertising accounts for around 4.3 per cent.
The decision builds on a much-vaunted move in 2020, when Amsterdam said it would stop allowing fossil fuel and aviation advertising as contracts were renewed. In practice, those contracts often run for a decade or more, meaning fossil fuel ads continued to appear for years, largely in metro stations.
This time, the city is taking a harder line. By writing the ban directly into public law, Amsterdam aims to override existing agreements and impose the restrictions citywide, regardless of how long current contracts still have to run.
Amsterdam is following other Dutch cities, including The Hague, Utrecht, Delft, and Nijmegen, which have adopted similar bans in recent years. Several of those measures have already faced legal scrutiny, raising questions about how far local authorities can go in restricting lawful advertising without being forced to pay compensation.
