From 2024, it will be impossible to find an advertisement for meat in public spaces in the city of Haarlem, west of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. A first in the world. The measure, promoted by the environmentalist party GroenLinks, was motivated by the harmful impact on the environment of the production and consumption of meat products.
In fact, according to the UN, livestock generate more than 14% of all greenhouse gases produced by man, the BBC reports. In addition, meat production contributes to deforestation around the world. In this Dutch city of 160,000 inhabitants, meat has thus been added to a list of products considered contributors to the climate crisis.
“We cannot encourage people to buy these products”
The public space advertising ban also applies to air travel, the fossil fuel industry and gasoline-powered cars, which cannot be displayed on buses or on city signs and screens. It will enter into force in 2024 due to existing contracts with companies that market these products.
“We are not worried about what people cook and grill in their own kitchens, if people want to continue eating meat, that is fine,” said Ziggy Klazes, councilor for the GroenLinks party, who drafted the measure, in remarks reported by The Guardian.
The new measure has aroused some opposition in the city’s Municipal Council and in the meat industry, who believe that it restricts freedom of expression.
Source: BFM TV
