Amsterdam calls, Florence answers. And it does so by choosing, as the first Italian city, to put a limit on the advertising of products linked to fossil fuels and activities with a high climate impact. A decision that follows the appeal of the international scientific community and the United Nations to reduce not only emissions, but also the cultural narrative that continues to normalize them.
The Florence City Council has in fact approved by a large majority a motion (already approved with amendments in June 2025 by the Municipality’s Economic Development Commission and which has as its object the “Adoption of restrictions / bans on advertising relating to fossil fuels”), which invites the mayor and council to introduce restrictions, up to the possible ban, for advertising linked to products and services with a high carbon footprint.
Fossil fuels, cars with combustion engines – especially SUVs and large models – airlines, cruises and, more generally, all activities directly connected to the use of fossil fuels end up in the crosshairs.
This is not yet an operational ban, but a significant political step: bringing the international debate on the climate responsibility of commercial communication to Italy too.
At the basis of the motion there is a precise idea: the ecological transition does not only concern technology and energy, but also the collective imagination: limiting fossil advertising can mean reducing daily exposure – especially of younger people – to messages that present consumption models incompatible with climate objectives as desirable.
Florence in the network of cities that act for the climate
With this vote, Florence joins over fifty cities in the world – Amsterdam, but also Boemendaal, in Northern Holland, and Utrecht, or The Hague, which have already initiated similar policies against fossil advertising. A signal that the local level can become a laboratory for concrete climate policies, even when national or international decisions proceed more slowly.
Attention is focused in particular on public spaces financed directly or indirectly with collective resources: bus and tram stops, urban transport infrastructures and other places of everyday city life. It is here that commercial communication meets millions of people every day – and this is where, according to the promoters, the change must begin.
Now the responsibility passes to the municipal administration, called to transform the Council’s indication into concrete measures, legally solid and compatible with current regulations. Because the climate crisis cannot be fought only with new technologies or large international agreements. We also fight by choosing which messages to leave in public space – and which ones to finally start turning off. To truly change behaviors, we first need to recognize the cultural impact of communication.
With the approval of the motion, we now have to wait for the next step from the mayor and the municipal council to adopt all the necessary measures.
