A new Green Party policy calling for the end of “high carbon” advertising could restrict commercials for environmentally unfriendly products on London’s transport services.
The pioneering plan to phase out all advertising for polluting goods and services, like long haul flights, became official policy on Sunday at online Party Conference.
As London’s first Green Mayor Sian Berry would move Transport for London (TfL) to implement the policy across the network.
Sian said: “This common sense policy to curb the influence of the biggest polluters will spark a long overdue conversation about the role of advertising in our lives.”
The policy references the successful tobacco adverting ban introduced in 2003 and British Medical Journal research praising the effectiveness of such restrictions.
The Party now hopes to start an overdue discussion about the promotion of products that damage the planet and bring “advertising rules into the 21st century”.
The TfL network is a highly valuable advertising estate that generated nearly £160m of revenue across more than 23,000 advertisements in the last financial year.
By Removing “high carbon” adverts from the network, Sian would be taking the urgent climate action that she has consistently called for in London.
You can support Sian’s candidacy for London Mayor here and read more about the policy here.
by Robert Perry