Fossil fuel adverts are today’s tobacco. Cities must ban them

Jemilah Mahmood is Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia and Jeni Miller is Executive Director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.

Last year, the Dutch city of The Hague made history by becoming the first in the world to ban fossil fuel advertising. Fossil fuel companies were sufficiently upset to challenge the ban in court last month - and they lost.

This fierce opposition by the fossil fuel industry shows how vital advertising is to its survival. By banning these ads from streets, transport and media, The Hague removed a key barrier to the clean energy transition. The result could have positive implications for people everywhere.

Adverts normalise the use of fossil fuels in daily life. Clever marketing tactics present fossil fuels as essential to daily life, or even as climate solutions. From sponsorship of community events to sports teams, they help maintain public support.

As health professionals, we believe banning these ads is not censorship. It is an essential public health intervention against the growing health emergency fuelled by coal, oil, and gas.

Fossil fuels are a primary climate change driver, and a direct threat to human health. Air pollution, largely caused by burning fossil fuels, is responsible for seven million premature deaths annually.

In cities from Jakarta to Johannesburg, Delhi to The Hague, we see patients struggling to breathe because of toxic air. From asthma in children to strokes and heart disease, the health toll is staggering. Fossil fuels are also driving the climate crisis, with heatwaves claiming lives across Europe and Asia as record-breaking temperatures push health systems to the brink.

These impacts are clear in our home countries. In Malaysia, flash floods displaced thousands and overwhelmed emergency services. People in the United States are suffering severe health impacts caused by climate-exacerbated wildfires - from respiratory illnesses caused by smoke exposure, to the mental health strain on communities repeatedly displaced and living with trauma.

The connection between fossil fuels and these worsening health impacts is undeniable. So why should we tolerate their promotion?

Fossil fuel companies use slick advertising to present their products as indispensable - even desirable. Glossy campaigns are used to greenwash big brands, which often promote token renewable investments while expanding oil and gas production. These adverts distort public perception, delay climate action, and downplay the very real harm fossil fuels cause.

For decades, tobacco companies used similar strategies to normalise smoking while obscuring its health risks. When governments finally banned tobacco advertising, it helped reduce smoking rates by as much as 20%, according to World Health Organization data, saving millions of lives.

Tobacco ad bans were never just about individual choices - they were about shifting societal norms and removing the industry's platform to mislead the public. Doctors and health workers played a decisive role in making the case for tobacco regulation, using evidence to shift public debate and push governments to act. We must do the same today.

Fossil fuel ads follow the path laid by Big Tobacco. They don’t just sell petrol or gas, air travel or cruise travel - but social acceptance of an industry and its products that are deeply harmful to the health of people and our planet.

The Hague does not stand alone. France already voted for a similar ban for gasoline and diesel ads, while Edinburgh and Sydney imposed restrictions on fossil fuel sponsorship and marketing. Advertising restrictions are a cost-effective, high-impact measure to protect public health.

Of course, bans alone will not solve the climate crisis - but they will reduce demand while dismantling the dangerous illusion of normalcy that keeps us locked into fossil fuel dependence. This can provide space for honest conversations on the need for cleaner, healthier forms of energy.

Our duty as health professionals is to prevent harm and protect health. Supporting fossil fuel ad bans is part of our responsibility. We owe it to our patients and to future generations to ensure that public spaces promote health, not harm.

Tobacco taught us a lesson: with evidence, determination, and health leadership, we can overcome powerful interests. The fossil fuel industry will resist at every turn.

But the first step is clear: cities must take fossil fuel ads down.