Almost half of people surveyed across the European Union are in favour of banning fossil fuel advertising — nearly twice as many who oppose such a move, according to a new study.

Climate campaigners are urging governments to impose tobacco-style restrictions on advertising for oil and gas companies and high-carbon goods and services such as flights, cruises and SUVs.

Authors of the study, published in Nature Climate Change, said their findings suggested that laws modelled on a first-of-its kind fossil fuel ad ban introduced in The Hague in the Netherlands in January could be popular elsewhere in Europe.

“A fossil ad ban sends out a powerful message, showing that fossil-fuel products and services should not be promoted,” said study co-author Thijs Bouman of the University of Groningen. “It compels others to implement similar measures, which ultimately lead to carbon emission reductions.”

The study was based on responses from more than 19,000 citizens in 13 EU countries — with 46.6 percent of respondents in favour of a ban, and 24.9 percent opposed.

Support for a ban was highest in Greece, France, Spain, and Italy, running at between 56 and 59 percent of respondents. The highest level of opposition (32 percent) was in the Czech Republic, but this was still lower than the level of support in the country (34 percent).

The law passed in The Hague prevents advertising for fossil energy contracts, petrol, diesel, aviation, cruise ships, and non-electric cars in publicly accessible places.

Robert Barker, deputy mayor of The Hague and a key supporter of the fossil fuel ad ban in the city, said the study showed that more municipalities should follow suit.

“Allowing fossil fuel ads while at the same time trying to reduce CO2 emissions is counterproductive,” said Barker. “Advertising normalises behaviour we need to discourage, like frequent flying or reliance on fossil fuels.”

A growing number of city councils around the world have pledged to ban fossil fuel advertising in public spaces owned or managed by the local government, including Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh. However, The Hague’s new rules go further by also banning fossil ads from privately owned ad spaces.

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has faced calls from politicians to address concerns about fossil fuel advertising after a DeSmog investigation found that more than 200 advertising campaigns by oil and gas producers had been placed on the city’s public transport network since his pledge to make London “carbon zero” by 2030.

Complaints Upheld

The advertising industry defends its work for polluters by arguing that ad agencies can help their clients move towards more sustainable products and services.

Legal and regulatory complaints brought against polluting companies for deceptive advertising practices have spiked in recent years, however. Companies including oil major Shell and car manufacturer Toyota have had to withdraw ads after rulings by UK regulator the Advertising Standards Authority, while a Dutch court ruled that airline KLM had broken national advertising laws for making unsubstantiated claims about “sustainable” flying.

U.S. congressional investigators concluded in a report published last year that some of the world’s biggest oil companies, including Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil, had for decades used advertising and public relations to present themselves as good faith actors in the fight against the climate crisis. At the same time, the report found, these companies had been actively lobbying against climate action and regulation and were promoting climate solutions they knew were not genuinely green or feasible.

“Given the denial, delay, greenwashing and other deceptions in fossil fuel ads, it’s no surprise Europeans want an end to the fossil fuel advertisements — no one likes being lied to,” said Philip Newell, communications co-chair of the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged governments to ban fossil fuel ads and called upon advertising and PR agencies to “stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction” by working with fossil fuel clients.

In February, campaigners filed a complaint with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), arguing that UK-based WPP — one of the world’s largest communications companies by revenue — had violated the OECD’s corporate guidelines on climate and human rights through its work for major polluters.

WPP responded by saying that it “adhere[s] to the highest regulatory standards in [its] work for clients” and that advertising was crucial to economic growth.

To visit DeSmog’s database profiling dozens of advertising and PR companies with ties to the fossil fuel industry, click here.