Amsterdam ban on fossil fuel & meat adverts won’t be enforced until 2027
A ban on public advertisements for meat, flying vacations, gas contracts, and fossil-fuel-powered cars officially began in Amsterdam on May 1, but the city will not enforce it or issue fines until 2027, Het Parool reports.
Alderman Melanie van der Horst informed the council in a letter that the three-month gap between the January approval and the May 1 start date is too short for operators and advertisers to adapt.
She had already warned the council in January that a rapid rollout would clash with existing contracts and be difficult to enforce. As a result, the coming months serve as a transition period during which banned ads will remain visible on billboards and bus shelters.
Van der Horst expects the advertising mix to change gradually, step by step, this year as companies that sell and buy ad space begin reducing banned content ahead of full enforcement.
The municipality will also hold talks with operators about the financial impact of the ban on ongoing contracts. Complaints about violating ads will receive enforcement decisions with deadlines extending into early 2027.
The prohibition was incorporated into the city’s General Local Ordinance (APV). It received majority support in January from Partij voor de Dieren, GroenLinks, and the PvdA (now part of Pro Amsterdam), among others.
Initiators' council members Jenneke van Pijpen (GroenLinks) and Anke Bakker (Partij voor de Dieren) explained the measure in the AT5 program, “Stemming op de Stopera.” “It is necessary because we have a climate crisis,” Bakker said. “And there we have made global agreements with each other: that we as governments must do everything to limit greenhouse gases and to become more sustainable.” Van Pijpen added that such advertising unconsciously “manipulates” people.
Partij voor de Dieren noted the delay was not entirely unexpected, as Van der Horst had previously indicated that enforcement would follow later and that fine regulations still needed to be finalized.
