Climate emergency: Three municipalities in the Netherlands decided to ban meat advertising from public spaces. IMAGE: Pixabay

No advertising for climate-damaging products

Three municipalities in the Netherlands have banned meat advertising. After the municipality of Haarlem led the way in 2022, Utrecht and Bloemendaal have now followed suit. Even Amsterdam is on its way, although it still has current advertising contracts until 2028, so it will take some time.

• It is not a complete ban (that would not be allowed by law). However, the above-mentioned municipalities want to no longer allow meat advertising, at least on the advertising pillars, bus stops and billboards they manage.
• In Haarlem, organic meat is excluded from the ban.
• In Bloemendaal, the ban also includes products “based on fossil fuels as a source of energy” as well as gambling and alcohol.
• The ban will only come into effect when the current contracts expire. In Haarlem, that will be 2024.

Meat consumption damages the climate

According to various studies, the global increase in meat consumption is a climate killer.

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5 percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
• However, this includes all animal products such as dairy, gelatin and wool.

What are the benefits of banning meat advertising?

According to Professor Jan Willem Bolderdijk of the Department of Sustainability and Marketing at the University of Amsterdam, an advertising ban alone will not make a big difference. However, he said in an interview that it would at least stop perpetuating the image that meat consumption is the norm.

Those of us who are older (like me) may remember cigarette advertising and have witnessed a drastic decline in tobacco consumption since the advertising ban (phased from 1975 to 2007) – and the subsequent ban on smoking in public buildings and restaurants (2008) in Germany. Now, meat is not the same as tobacco, but many sustainable hotels have now started to offer at least vegan alternatives on their menus.

In our blog post on vegan travel, we take a closer look at the various views of hotel managers towards meat consumption. While hotels like LA VIMEA in South Tyrol are completely vegan (including the furniture), others only offer local organic meat.

Do you still need meat or are you already traveling vegan-vegetarian?