Activists call for EU ban on fossil fuel advertising

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A coalition of more than 20 environmental and climate activist groups has launched a campaign calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship across the European Union, similar to bans on tobacco advertising. More than 80 Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance to Shell’s oil refinery in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Monday to draw attention to the launch of the European Citizens’ Initiative calling for the advertising ban. The action comes less than a month before the start of the United Nations climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow. Activists used floating cubes emblazoned with fossil fuel-linked advertisements to block the port’s entrance, along with the protest ship Beluga, with the words “Ban Fossil Fuel Advertising” strung between its masts.