Cases / Lobbying, PR and greenwashing · Netherlands · 2021
The Hague's fossil fuel advertising ban took effect in 2025 after court upheld it
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
The Hague's ban on fossil fuel, flight, cruise and fossil-fuel car advertising in public spaces took effect on 1 January 2025, and a court upheld it in April 2025. What is at stake for nature is whether public advertising that promotes fossil fuel use can be limited, and France's 2021 law on fossil energy advertising has no implementing decree.
What?
The Hague banned fossil fuel advertising in public spaces from January 2025 and the court upheld it; a Paris court in October 2025 found a TotalEnergies carbon neutrality claim misleading. CMS
Where?
The Hague and Amsterdam (Netherlands); France
When?
Vote in September 2024; ban in force 1 January 2025; court ruling April 2025; Amsterdam vote January 2026; Paris ruling October 2025. CMS
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
None on recordHarmed
- Outdoor advertising companies and the cities that lose advertising income — Lose advertising revenue under the bans; JCDecaux warned of heavy financial and legal consequences
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Binding municipal rules approved by council vote, challenged in court; in France the 2021 law has not been applied for lack of an implementing decree.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
The Hague council approved its ban on fossil fuel, flight, cruise and fossil-fuel car advertising in public spaces in September 2024 by 24 votes to 21, and the ban took effect on 1 January 2025.
The travel sector challenged the ban, and in April 2025 the court upheld it, finding that such commercial advertising is not covered by constitutional protection, according to CMS.
Amsterdam adopted a ban in January 2026 that also covers meat products, with the ban starting in May 2026; JCDecaux, the largest outdoor advertiser, warned political parties of heavy financial and legal consequences a day before the vote.
France's 2021 Climate and Resilience Law banned fossil energy advertising on paper, but no implementing decree has been issued; a second draft targets 1 January 2027 and exempts equipment such as gas boilers.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2025-04Defendant wonChallenge to The Hague fossil fuel advertising banCourt in The Hague · Civil · ANVR, TUI and others (travel sector) → The Hague municipality
The court upheld the ban and ruled that such commercial advertising is not under constitutional protection. CMS
- 2025-10Outcome not on recordParis court ruling on TotalEnergies carbon neutrality advertisingParis court (first instance) · Civil · Not named in the sources reviewed → TotalEnergies
The court found the claim that TotalEnergies would be carbon neutral by 2050 misleading to consumers; it treated gas and farm fuel messages as corporate communication rather than advertising. The ruling is at first instance and can be appealed.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Court
- Unclear Paris court ruling on TotalEnergies carbon neutrality advertising: outcome not on record.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the bans have reduced fossil fuel advertising; no before-and-after study was found.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Dutch Advertising Code Committee's rulings are not binding.
- None on record The sources reviewed give no figures for advertising revenue lost by the cities or by advertisers.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Hague court rules municipalities can ban fossil fuel advertisingCMS · 2025-04-29
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