A Dutch city is set to become the first in the world to ban meat adverts from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Haarlem, a city that lies to the west of Amsterdam and has a population of about 160,000, will enact the prohibition from 2024 after meat was added to a list of products deemed to contribute to the climate crisis.
The move was approved by the city council last November but went unnoticed until advertising agencies were officially notified of the changes last week.
“It will be the first city in the Netherlands and in fact Europe and indeed the world to ban meat ads in public places,’ Councillor Ziggy Klazes told AFP, adding that the reason for the ban was because it was against the city’s politics to ‘earn money by renting the city’s public space to products which accelerate global warming.”
Adverts will not be allowed on Haarlem’s buses, shelters, and screens in public spaces, prompting complaints from the meat sector that the municipality is “going too far in telling people what’s best for them”.
Ziggy Klazes, a councilor from the GroenLinks party, who drafted the motion banning meat advertising, said she had not known the city would be the world’s first to enforce such a policy when she proposed it.
She told the Haarlem105 radio channel, “We are not about what people are baking and roasting in their own kitchen; if people wanted to continue eating meat, fine … We can’t tell people there’s a climate crisis and encourage them to buy products that are part of the cause.
“Of course, there are a lot of people who find the decision outrageous and patronising, but there are also a lot of people who think it’s fine.
“It is a signal – if it is picked up nationally, that would only be very nice. There are many groups of GroenLinks who think it is a good idea and want to try it.”
The Dutch meat ad ban follows the UK and Singapore, which are also set to ban adverts for groups of products such as junk food.
