The associations Resistance to Advertising Aggression, Greenpeace, Alternatiba, Plein la Vue, united as a collective, once again alert on the screens of illuminated advertisements and in a text published Tuesday, September 13 by franceinfo, they challenge the President of the Republic. They point to the energy-intensive nature of these screens, while the prices of electricity and gas have soared to historic levels in Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine and France is preparing to implement energy sobriety measures. and fight against global warming. The associations claim, petition in support, “the definitive extinction” of these digital advertising screens, “an emergency measure, just socially and ecologically”, while a decree in preparation only provides for a ban on advertisements bright between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
At the height of summer, the government announced a major energy sobriety plan in response to the serious energy crisis that Europe is going through. The measures adopted must strengthen our energy independence and reduce our consumption by 10% by 2024. Through this petition, we are defending an emergency measure, which is socially and ecologically just: definitively switching off digital advertising screens.
“We are experiencing the end of what could appear to be an abundance”, said President Emmanuel Macron in a speech on August 19. Advertising screens are a symbol of this: they contribute to the waste of energy and resources, are harmful to health and biodiversity, proliferate in shopping centres, stations, public transport, public spaces and shop windows. , subjecting citizens to ever more advertising pressure. They encourage overconsumption, contribute to light pollution and are mainly used by large companies, to the detriment of local businesses. In a report published in 2020, ADEME estimated the consumption of a 2m2 screen at 2,000 kWh/year, almost the equivalent of the annual consumption of a household (excluding heating and hot water). The advertising screens thus appear as a real incoherence in a society increasingly marked by ecological and social urgency, in a context of energy crisis and incitement to sobriety.
For several years, voices have been raised to demand their ban:
• In February 2020, a column signed in the JDD by 160 personalities, parliamentarians and scientists, asked the government to stop their proliferation.
• In June 2020, the Citizen’s Climate Convention included their ban among its 149 proposals – which was not retained in the climate and resilience law.
• In June 2022, the Energy Futures 2050 report by RTE – the electricity network operator – called for “the gradual disappearance of advertising screens” to save energy and limit consumption incentives.
The nocturnal extinction of illuminated signs and advertisements, decided by the government (2), is a necessary but derisory response, which does not make it possible to definitively free our public spaces, stations and public transport from advertising screens.
We expect an energy sobriety plan to take structural measures, to target uses collectively defined as incidental or harmful. We expect a sobriety plan to be guided by an imperative of social justice and ecological transition.
It is time for real action, Mr. President: turn off the screens.
Collective carrying the petition: Resistance to advertising aggression, Greenpeace, Alternatiba, Plein la Vue.
(1) In its Energy Futures 2050 report published in February 2022, the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) indicated that around 9,000 screens were installed in 2019 with an increase of 20% per year.
(2) The forthcoming decree must “[généraliser] the prohibition of illuminated advertisements whatever the size of the city, between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., with rare exceptions such as stations and airports which do not close at night”. However, the decree published following the Grenelle law already provides for these extinguishing times in most cities, and is not currently fully applied. Furthermore, switching off at night does not solve the problem of consumption peaks at midday and in the evening.
Charlotte Ribaute, co-president of Resistance to Advertising Aggression
Jean-Francois Julliard, Director of Greenpeace France
Anthony Geoffrey, co-president of the collective Plein la vue
Eric Piole, EELV mayor of Grenoble
Morgane CreachExecutive Director of the Climate Action Network
Emma Tosini, ANV-COP21 spokesperson
Alex MontvernayAlternatiba spokesperson
Cecile DuflotDirector General of Oxfam France
Juliette FranquetDirector of Zero Waste France
Nicolas Gilbaud, president of I-buycott
Raphael Pradeauspokesperson for Attac
Claire Morcanmember of the Citizen’s Climate Convention
Thomas Wagnerfounder of the media Bon Pote
Maxime Combeseconomist
Corinne Morel Darleuxauthor
Dominique Bourgphilosopher
Julien BayouGreen MP
Cyrielle ChatelainGreen MP
Mathilde PanotMP La France Insoumise
Francois RuffinDeputy La France Insoumise
Dominique Pottersocialist deputy
Thomas DossusGreen Senator
Manon AubryMEP La France Insoumise
David CormanGreen MEP
Camille Etiennesocial and climate justice activist
Khaled GaijiPresident of Friends of the Earth