Campaigners say legal advice backs councils being able to ban advertising from polluter companies

Environmental campaign groups have obtained legal advice that they say shows councils can ban advertisements on sites they control from companies thought to cause pollution such as petrol and diesel cars, airlines and fossil fuel firms.

The advice from Richard Wald KC at 39 Essex Chambers was commissioned by the New Weather Institute on behalf of the Badvertising and Adfree Cities campaigns.

They said it meant incoming councils following this week’s local elections would be free to develop advertising policies in line with climate change and anti-pollution strategies.

Campaigners called on councils to follow the precedents of other restrictions on the advertising of harmful products and end advertising by major polluters.  

Mr Wald assessed the case on two main grounds: the legal risks attached to adopting a ban on high-carbon advertising and sponsorship; and the design of a lawful policy.

He found the adoption of an advertising policy banning ‘high-carbon’ advertising fell within the powers available to local authorities and the prospect of a successful challenge was low, while councils had broad scope to design any policy despite a lack of national definition of ‘high carbon’.

His review highlighted Cambridgeshire County Council’s Advertising and Sponsorship Policy, which restricts advertising for fossil fuels, and other examples from Basingstoke and Coventry. 

Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute, said: “Councils committed to clean air and climate action should be free to say no to major polluters promoting high-carbon products and lifestyles on sites they control.”

Mark Smulian