Efforts to curb aviation’s massive carbon emissions will not work unless the industry limits flight numbers, a group of industry professionals told the Guardian last week. Instead, the industry is locked in a business model that pursues more flight numbers — and growing bottomline margins — while expecting future innovations in emissions-cutting tech to mitigate the resulting pollution, the organization Call Aviation to Action said. At the current pace, aviation would eventually account for roughly one-quarter of the world’s emissions, former industry official and the group’s co-founder Karel Bockstael.

Insufficient climate measures: The industry’s current reliance on carbon credits to offset its emissions would have adverse effects, risking not only climate change but also the future of the industry itself, Bockstael said in a criticism pointed at the UN aviation body the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The group has also pointed to lagging innovations in climate tech, like delays in hydrogen-powered tech and alternative aviation fuels.

The alternative? Call Aviation to Action proposes that carbon budgets be deployed instead, alongside the rollout of short-term emissions targets that incumbent leaders can implement while in power.

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