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Ads that promote coal, oil and gas could soon be banned from hundreds of buildings and public spaces in Sydney.
Key points:
- The City of Sydney is considering a ban on fossil fuel ads on its properties and infrastructure
- The council controls a significant network of outdoor advertising space in Australia
- A coalition of communications professionals wants a tobacco-style national ban
The City of Sydney will consider becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to ban fossil fuel advertising on council-run properties and infrastructure, citing detrimental effects on health, environment and climate.
Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Scully said the influence wielded by fossil fuel companies, which spent millions on advertising annually, had contributed to Australia's lack of action on climate change.
"This is about drawing a line in the sand, saying no more, we see through this whitewashing, we see through the marketing spin," Cr Scully said.
She will move a motion at Monday's council meeting requesting an investigation into restricting fossil fuel ads and sponsorship deals, comparing the health effects to tobacco products.
"Air pollution from burning fossil fuels takes 8.7 million lives prematurely each year — worse than tobacco," Cr Scully's motion stated.
If Sydney went ahead with a ban, it would be the biggest win to date for a campaign to stop advertising by coal, oil and gas companies similar to anti-tobacco advertising laws.
Comms Declare, a group of 300 marketing, public relations, advertising and media professionals behind the campaign, described the real estate controlled by City of Sydney — including bus shelters and street furniture — as the "jewel in the crown" of Australia's advertising space.
"City of Sydney has one of the largest outdoor advertising networks in the world," Comms Declare co-founder Belinda Noble said.
France has adopted a nationwide ban on fossil fuel ads and Amsterdam in the Netherlands prohibits such ads on its public transport network.
In Australia, Yarra and Moreland councils in Melbourne have also resolved to investigate banning fossil fuel ads.
Cars, heated swimming pools among ads targeted
From ads promoting petrol-guzzling cars to those selling gas-heated swimming pools, Ms Noble said fossil fuel messaging was "insidious".
"People don't realise how many fossil fuel messages there are in their day to day lives," she said.
Determining which ads would fall under the proposed ban will form part of the council investigation.
Comms Declare defined fossil fuel ads as those that promoted coal, gas and petroleum products, corporations that primarily produced fossil fuels, or organisations that generated more than 20 per cent of revenue from fossil fuels.
Cr Scully said that was reasonable, but she would wait for advice from council staff about the definition and implications for existing contracts.
She said she was not aware of the council accepting any advertisements in recent years that would potentially fall under such a ban.
"I think it's a market signal that we want to send," Cr Scully said.
She hoped the council taking this step would trigger other councils and organisations to take similar action.
Ms Noble said momentum was growing and expected more councils to follow in the City of Sydney's footsteps.
However, the group expected it would still be some time before the federal government took on the industry.
"It took 40 years to stop all tobacco promotion in Australia after we knew tobacco products caused cancer so we're not expecting this to happen overnight," Ms Noble said.
The motion proposed by Cr Scully also called on City of Sydney to write to state and federal ministers urging a national ban.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has previously rejected the need for a tobacco-style ban on fossil fuel ads.
She told the Sydney Morning Herald in July advertising regulation in Australia "strikes a balance between legitimate commercial interests and appropriate community safeguards".