Carbon emissions from aviation are excluded from the national plans countries submit to the UN’s climate body.Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/ZUMA

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The aviation industry is “failing dramatically” in its efforts to tackle its role in the climate crisis, according to a newly formed group of aviation professionals.

They say they are torn between their passion for flying and their concern for the planet and are calling for a fundamental transition of the industry, including controlling flight numbers.

The group, Call Aviation to Action, says the industry is overly optimistic about emissions-cutting technology and trapped in a business model that demands ever-growing flight numbers. The lack of significant climate action from the industry risks it being destroyed, the group says, as heavy regulation from outside will become necessary as the climate crisis intensifies.

Karel Bockstael, a co-founder of the group, and a vice president of sustainability at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines until 2022, said: “We see the good that aviation can do but we also see that we must reinvent our industry to restore its positive contribution to the world.”

Due to their international nature, carbon dioxide emissions from aviation are excluded from the national plans that countries submit to the UN’s climate body. Instead, the UN’s aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is tasked with tackling the planet-heating gases.

“As a commercial pilot, I’m trained to........

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