Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes… The cities reduce the advertising wings ahead of the government’s “sobriety plan”

Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher has announced a ban on illuminated advertisements between one and six in the morning as part of Emmanuel Macron’s “sobriety plan”. These restrictive measures are not new for several French cities which have already started a movement to reduce the advertising wing, sometimes even banning it. Energy consumption, but also visual pollution and incitement to over-consumption, advertisements are now in the sights of cities committed to ecological transition.

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Big cities are not waiting for the government’s “Sobriety Plan” to reduce energy waste from illuminated billboards. In Lyon, Bègles, Bordeaux, Nantes… decisions taken in recent months by several large cities go even further than the announcement of the extinction of the luminous panels between one and six o’clock in the morning, by the Minister of energy transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. This rule already existed but until now only applied to towns with less than 800,000 inhabitants.

The public space is gradually becoming lighter from advertisements, whether illuminated or not. On June 27, the environmental town hall of Bègles banned all advertisements in the city center. The same day, the Lyon metropolitan area, also an environmentalist, voted to ban advertising tarpaulins, windows lit at night and advertisements near schools. The cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Rennes have also reviewed their “Local Advertising Regulations” projects in recent months to reduce the place of advertising displays. An imperative for cities, each at their own level, to respect their environmental commitments.

The Lyon Metropolitan Council has just voted its draft Local Advertising Regulations

It will be submitted to a public inquiry this summer.

Fewer advertisements, less light pollution and a more peaceful living environment @FilGB pic.twitter.com/Y5MR9frc8N

— Bruno Bernard (@brunobernard_fr) June 27, 2022

“Advertisers are not surprised”, says Xavier Fédou, the elected official in charge of urban planning in Bègles. In his city held successively by two environmental mayors, the fight against advertising displays had already been underway for more than ten years with a reduction in their size and number. “It’s a long journey that goes towards more respect for the environment, priority to revegetation and respect for nature”, he says.

A “consumer addiction”

Energy waste from light panels, visual pollution, incitement to over-consumption… There are many ecological reasons for limiting advertising. “Our addiction to consumption is the primary cause of climate change and the loss of biodiversity”, argues Éric Piolle, the environmental mayor of Grenoble. Advertising displays have deserted this pioneering city in Europe, which this year comes to the end of the deadline for removing them. There are only a few rare relics left, because French law does not allow them to be completely banned.

“The decline in advertising is of interest to everyone”, continues the mayor of Grenoble, denouncing other issues such as exposure to sexist images. “These are attacks on the whole of society”, he is alarmed. The equivalent of the surface of three football fields was freed up, leaving room for trees and municipal displays. Associations and cultural events are thus better highlighted. The city of Bègles also advances the satisfaction of small traders in the city center who deplored competition from large chains, the only ones able to afford these displays.

The fight continues for the ban of advertisements

Removing advertising, however, is a shortfall for municipalities. This is why the town hall of Bègles still authorizes advertisements in the commercial area, speaking of “requalification” rather than prohibition, which guarantees him a fee of around 100,000 euros annually. The town hall of Grenoble has made the uncompromising choice to do without 500,000 euros per year, according to the assessment of JCDecaux. A figure disputed by the town hall because of probable competition from the Internet, which would lower the gains from physical advertising. Be that as it may, the mayor considers the sum insignificant on a city-wide scale. “The ratio between the benefits of advertising and the harm was totally unbalanced”, he defends.

The fight continues for many associations such as Extinction Rebellion which removed advertisements in the city of Bordeaux from June 20 to 26, 2022 during an action called “Respiro”, judging that the measures taken recently are not sufficient. registration “This advertisement has been removed following a citizen request” replaced advertisements, in reference to the Citizen’s Convention for the Climate, of which 89.6% of the 150 participating citizens asked in 2020 to remove advertisements from public spaces. The action was repeated in several other cities. In Grenoble too, the mayor is continuing his fight with new battlegrounds such as illuminated advertisements inside stores, a subject that is currently beyond the control of the municipalities.

On #Paris, #ExtinctionRebellion goes to the countryside #BREATH : https://t.co/s6Yedrh61H

The balance sheet?
more than 250 pubs in one evening
5 different neighborhoods affected
actions that roll in day by day
new people like YOU joining us pic.twitter.com/MpFgKOapMj

— Extinction Rebellion Paris / Ile-de-France (@xr_ParisIDF) July 4, 2022

Fanny Breuneval

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