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In recent years, we've seen a measure that, until recently, seemed unthinkable: banning advertising for businesses linked to fossil fuels. We're not talking about closing companies overnight, but something more subtle and profound: ceasing to promote activities that depend on oil, gas, or coal.
Low-cost flights, gasoline-powered cars, massive cruises… all of these are part of our current economic model. But they are also directly linked to CO₂ emissions and climate change. And some cities have decided to take action.
One of the pioneers was The Hague, which in 2024 passed a law prohibiting advertising for products and services based on fossil fuels in the city's public spaces. This wasn't just a symbolic declaration, but a concrete regulation affecting billboards, signs, and other urban advertising structures.
Following this step, other cities like Stockholm, Florence, and Sydney have adopted similar measures. The trend is clear: if we want to change habits, we must also change the messages that normalize certain behaviors.
Some time ago, UN Secretary-General António Guterres publicly called for a ban on fossil fuel advertising, comparing it to tobacco advertising. His argument was simple: it makes no sense to actively promote activities that we know damage the climate.
And the comparison with tobacco is not accidental. For decades, smoking was socially accepted and widely advertised. When its advertising was banned, public perception gradually changed. It wasn't immediate, but it was decisive.
Advertising doesn't just inform. It also shapes what we consider normal. This trend has only just begun. It is likely that in the coming years the focus will broaden to other sectors with a strong environmental impact, such as certain models of intensive consumption or products with a high carbon footprint.
Some are already pointing to the excessive consumption of red meat or particularly polluting activities. It may generate debate, undoubtedly. But debate is part of the process of change.
What is clear is that the transition to a sustainable model will not only be technological, but also cultural. It is not enough to develop renewable energies; we must also review the social and economic incentives that reinforce old habits.
Change is difficult, but not changing is even more expensive. Every transformation involves costs and resistance. Affected companies, jobs in transition, business models that must be reinvented. None of this is easy.
But the longer adaptation is delayed, the greater the accumulated costs: extreme weather events, economic damage, social and health strains.
Today we have real alternatives: electric mobility, efficient public transport, renewable energies, a circular economy. We are not at the starting point; we are in the midst of a transition.
Banning fossil fuel advertising will not, by itself, solve climate change. But it is a powerful signal. It indicates where a society wants to go.
Ultimately, cities reflect the decisions of their citizens. Changing our consumption habits, opting for more sustainable options, and supporting coherent policies is a direct way to influence the collective course.
Nothing is immutable. What seems normal today may cease to be so tomorrow.
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