As of January 2022, over 520 councils in the UK have made climate emergency declarations. Low Carbon Advertising Policies present an opportunity for local authorities to turn declarations into action and further their existing health and environmental policy goals relating to air pollution, active travel, climate change, sustainability and town planning.
Local authorities have control over the following areas:
Advertising billboards and screens located on council-owned land;
Passenger Transport Executives (such as Transport for London, Transport for Greater Manchester, Merseytravel, etc) have control of advertising policies, and are accountable to local democratic bodies such as Mayor’s offices;
Planning consent for advertising infrastructure (e.g new digital billboards) and some advertising content.
Some councils in the UK are beginning to recognise the negative impacts that advertising can have on achieving greener places to live in. Bristol City Council became the first local authority outside of London to ban advertising for junk food, gambling and payday loans on ad sites it controls such as bus stops in March 2021 but fell short of including high-carbon products.
As to date, these English councils have already adopted motions for an ethical or low carbon advertising policy:
Liverpool City Council passed a motion in January 2021 to review its advertising arrangements and implement a low carbon advertising policy. See page 15 of these council minutes.
Norwich City Council passed a motion in July 2021 to implement an ethical advertising policy including restrictions on environmentally damaging products, junk food, gambling and payday loan products.
North Somerset Council passed a motion in July 2021 to restrict advertising for high carbon products.
All three of the above councils are currently working up implementation strategies for these policies.
Write to your local councillor
Ask your councillors to pass a motion to implement a Low Carbon Advertising Policy.
Toolkit for local policymakers
Our Toolkit for Local Policymakers provides details of what powers councils have relating to advertising, a model motion for councillors and Frequently Asked Questions.