Amsterdam has become the world's first capital city to ban public advertising for both meat and fossil fuel products. Since 1 May, billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations across the Dutch capital no longer carry advertisements for beef burgers, petrol cars, airlines, or cruises. In their place, Amsterdammers now encounter promotions for the Rijksmuseum — the Netherlands' national museum — and cultural events.

The ban was driven by a coalition of local politicians who argue that renting out public space to industries the city is actively working to phase out amounts to a contradiction. "If you want to be leading in climate policies and you rent out your walls to exactly the opposite, what are you doing?" said GreenLeft councillor Anneke Veenhoff. The measure was instigated by Anke Bakker of the Party for the Animals, a Dutch party focused on animal rights, who rejects accusations of paternalism. "We're giving people more freedom because they can make their own choice," she said, arguing the ban removes constant commercial pressure rather than restricting personal behaviour. The city's environmental targets include reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and halving residents' meat consumption over the same period.

Amsterdam is not the first city to move in this direction. Haarlem, a city 18 kilometres to Amsterdam's west, was in 2022 the first in the world to announce a broad ban on meat advertising in public spaces, which came into force in 2024 alongside a fossil fuel ad ban. The Dutch cities of Utrecht and Nijmegen have since introduced their own restrictions, and globally cities including Edinburgh, Stockholm, and Florence have banned fossil fuel advertising. France has introduced a nationwide ban. What makes Amsterdam's step distinctive is its explicit pairing of meat with fossil fuels, reframing dietary choices as a climate issue.

Activists hope the move creates what they call a "tobacco moment" — a cultural shift in which advertising for high-carbon products comes to be seen as socially unacceptable, much as cigarette promotion now is. Epidemiologist Prof Joreintje Mackenbach of Amsterdam University Medical Center describes the ban as "a fantastic natural experiment," pointing to evidence that London Underground's 2019 ban on junk food advertising reduced purchases of such products among commuters. Critics, however, question how meaningful the impact can be when the same offers remain freely available through social media and digital platforms, which the municipal ban does not touch. Industry groups are also opposed: the Dutch Meat Association called the measure "an undesirable way to influence consumer behaviour," while the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators said banning holiday advertising was a disproportionate restriction on commercial freedom.

The Amsterdam ban is now drawing attention beyond the Netherlands. In Belgium, climate activists including Anuna De Wever have called for similar measures, and the municipality of Saint-Gilles in Brussels passed a motion last year calling on the Brussels regional government to act. However, Belgian municipalities currently lack the legal authority to regulate advertising content — only its placement and format — a constraint confirmed by a 2016 Council of State ruling. The Amsterdam example nonetheless offers campaigners elsewhere a legal and political model to build on, and its proponents argue the shift in what is visible in public space ultimately shapes what a society considers normal.