This article was published by The Energy Mix on April 28, 2025.
By Gaye Taylor
Climate and public health advocates around the world are celebrating—and urging municipalities everywhere to take note—after a Dutch judge tossed out a tourist industry challenge to The Hague’s municipal ban on fossil fuel advertising, a global first when it became law last September.
In a precedent-setting ruling that marks the first time a court has vetted a municipal fossil-fuel ad ban, a judge at the District Court of The Hague confirmed that local governments “can lawfully take necessary climate action, even where it might be contrary to economic interests of polluting companies,” Climate Action Against Disinformation said in a release [pdf].
In a virtual media briefing, lawyer Tjarda van der Vijver, director of Advocates for the Future, which supported The Hague in its defence of its ban, laid out the case against the measure as it was put forward bythe plaintiffs: the Dutch Trade Association of Travel Companies and Germany-based travel agency titan TUI.
Arguing that the ban was fundamentally “unlawful,” the plaintiffs claimed it was “ineffective” as well as “unclear and disproportionate.” They further argued the ban “did not concern a specific local public interest” and that the municipality of The Hague was therefore exceeding its authority. They maintained the ban also violates EU free speech laws.
Although the ban covers ads pertaining to all fossil fuel products and services, including natural gas contracts and even hybrid cars, the tourism heavyweights focused on the harms such a ban would pose to their primary revenue streams: airline tickets and cruise ship packages.
Dismissing every argument put forward by the travel industry representatives, the district court judge “observed that the municipality has a wide margin of appreciation [i.e. discretion] to enact laws with a view to protect local public interest,” van der Vijver told the briefing.
“The court is basically saying, ‘wait a minute, if this is a democratically legitimized measure trying to address public interest, who am I as a judge to intervene too much?’”
Rejecting the travel industry’s claim that the ban did not involve the local public interest, the court said the measure made a clear contribution to local public health and climate policy objectives.
Van der Vijver also noted the extent to which the court “explicitly and sometimes more implicitly showed deference” to the scientific evidence The Hague marshalled in defence of the advertising ban. The court also dismissed the claim that the ban would be “ineffective” in helping to cut climate emissions.
“‘Every little bit helps,’ was what the Dutch court said, which is a very clear statement that this is all about the contribution to the fight against climate change,” noted the lawyer.
In what van der Vijver described as “a very clear red thread running through the judgment,” the court acknowledged that the ban might well “lead to a restriction of the free movement of goods and services,” but that such restrictions can be justified under EU laws protecting public health and the environment.
“It is not up to the municipality to refrain from taking measures to promote the health of its residents in order to strengthen the future (financial) position of travel providers,” the judge wrote.
“This ruling is a breakthrough moment. It shows that municipalities can stand up to the big polluters and take real action to protect their residents. If The Hague can ban fossil fuel advertising to safeguard health and the climate, so should Canadian cities,” emergency physician Dr. Joe Vipond, a past president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) told The Energy Mix.
“Canadian municipalities now have a clear path to follow: Prioritize people over profits, and start clearing fossil fuel propaganda from our streets,” Vipond added.
“This ruling is a huge victory for public health,” added Dr. Leah Temper, director for CAPE’s Fossil Fuel Ads Make Us Sick campaign.
“The Hague’s leadership shows that municipalities have the power and the responsibility to break the toxic grip of fossil fuel advertising,” Temper said. “Canadian cities must act now to protect our health, our air, and our future from the fossil fuel industry’s disinformation.”
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