‘The New Tobacco’: Cities Ban Fossil Fuel Adverts

Published: 20 February 2026 . The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

In a bold move likened to the historic fight against tobacco advertising, a growing number of cities around the world are outlawing adverts for fossil fuels, high‑carbon services, and other polluting products, aiming to curb climate change and reshape public norms. Critics have dubbed fossil fuel promotion “the new tobacco,” arguing that just as tobacco ads once helped sustain smoking culture, fossil fuel advertising now normalises carbon‑intensive habits that fuel global warming.

The Dutch capital Amsterdam has taken centre stage with a landmark city council vote that will, from May 1, ban advertising for fossil fuels and meat products across all public spaces, including billboards, trams, buses and train stations. With the measure passed 27‑17, Amsterdam becomes the first world capital to enact such a sweeping legal ban. It targets adverts for high‑carbon services like flights, petrol and diesel vehicles and gas heating contracts — signalling a shift in how cities regulate commercial messaging in the public realm.

The policy, brought forward by the city’s green and animal welfare parties, seeks to reduce public exposure to advertisements that organisers say encourage consumption patterns at odds with the city’s climate neutrality goals for 2030. While advertisements from individual shops on private premises are unaffected, the move will significantly reduce fossil fuel companies’ visibility in everyday urban life.

Amsterdam’s decision is not an isolated one. Across Europe and beyond, more than 50 municipalities have imposed similar restrictions or are planning formal bans on fossil fuel ads, with cities such as Stockholm, Edinburgh and Sydney adopting measures that restrict or prohibit promotion of fossil‑fuel‑linked products on council‑owned advertising spaces. These policies often target not only energy companies but also airlines, airports, car manufacturers and other industries tied to high energy consumption.

In The Hague, earlier court rulings upheld a ban on fossil fuel advertising after legal challenges, strengthening the precedent for legally enforceable climate protection measures at the local level. Such victories have inspired climate activists to argue that public advertising should no longer serve to endorse or normalise behaviours that drive climate breakdown.

Supporters of advertising bans frame the issue as more than environmental policy — they describe it as a cultural shift in how society perceives and promotes harmful products. They argue that ending fossil fuel adverts weakens the industry’s social licence, much like restrictions on tobacco advertising helped reduce smoking rates decades ago. Critics of the bans caution about legal pushback, potential effects on advertising revenue for cities, and questions over free speech. Yet proponents contend that, given the urgency of the climate crisis, public policy must tackle not just emissions themselves but the messaging that perpetuates high‑carbon lifestyles.

As the world watches, the movement to treat fossil fuel advertisements as harmful — akin to tobacco ads — could spread to more municipalities and possibly shape national regulations in the future.

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