Builds on recent federal anti-greenwashing rules
The motion passed Thursday directs city staff to report back next year on a possible draft ban, but it stops short of asking for an outright prohibition on fossil fuel advocacy ads.
Those rules added to the Competition Act in June puts the onus on advertisers to back up their environmental claims.
Research has suggested greenwashing is a pervasive issue, with a 2021 sweep by European authorities of hundreds of online claims from various business sectors that found nearly half were either false or deceptive.
An Ottawa city committee also directed staff earlier this year to review possible changes to its advertising policy to single out fossil fuel advocacy, and the board chair of Montreal’s transit authority says its advertising subsidiary was directed last year to crack down on fossil fuel ads.