We love aviation. And the planet.
It’s because we see the good that aviation can do that we call aviation to action
We are a group of current and former aviation professionals calling for courageous leadership in aviation to decisively act on our industry’s growing contribution to climate change. We are deeply concerned that if aviation does not take adequate action to change course, our industry will face crisis soon. Rather, we prefer to make the jump, set a new course and take the opportunity to fundamentally transform aviation to fit a liveable planet.
Collectively, we need to recognise our shared responsibilities, and take actions to make change.
By 2025, we need to:
Set absolute emission reduction targets in line with carbon budgets
We need to recognise carbon budgets, set a carbon budget for aviation (considering a fair distribution of the carbon budget across the world’s population) and bring companies’ strategic plans in line with these carbon budgets. We need roadmaps that are aligned to these carbon budgets and that include short-term intermediate targets. Short-term targets are important not only because they are in the span of control and the time in office of current leadership teams, but also because delayed action makes the problem harder to tackle. Following targets on reducing CO2 emissions, we should address non-CO2 climate effects in a similar way.
Advocate for and help implement regulation that keeps us within planetary boundaries and really drives innovation
We need to reorient lobbying efforts from objecting against regulation to actively proposing regulation that takes all players in our industry along in what is needed to respect the boundaries we are currently transgressing and really drive innovation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] – as we’ve for example seen previously with electric cars and improvements in air quality. We need a level playing field in climate action that is defined by leaders that are set on tackling this issue, not by the companies performing the worst. Striving for perfect policies should not delay the implementation of already good ones.
Be realistic on the timeline of what technology can bring
Whereas we absolutely need every single bit of technological improvement we can get, we need to be realistic on the availability of new technologies, in terms of time, scale and cost. Accordingly, we need to develop a business model that can ensure its sustainability on its own, in time and independent of breakthroughs elsewhere.
Acknowledge that managing global demand in a fair manner is part of the solution
We need to take our responsibility, especially in regions that have a larger share in historic CO2 emissions. Intelligent demand management – focused on maintaining the societally most valuable connections – can help that the benefits of aviation remain available to the largest group of people, or the regions most dependent on it.
“Just as it’s the responsibility of the co-pilot to speak up if they see the captain setting the wrong course, it’s our responsibility to speak up if we see our industry continuing on a dangerous course.”
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people have already joined our call
Why others support our call
“Aviation is fascinating and relevant. I can’t wait to see the aviation industry leadership finally getting real about the climate crisis and mobilising the imagination and courage from which flying was born in the first place. The climate can has been kicked down the road for too long.”
Jan-Ernst de Groot, Former managing director and member of the executive board of KLM / Initiator of the 2006 call for aviation climate action
“Aviation is not the only industry that needs to change. But if we wait for other sectors of society to decarbonise first, it will be too late. Aviation is often described as a “hard to decarbonise” sector. If we face up to the challenge, we remove the excuses that other industry sectors can use to delay their own necessary changes.”
Patrick Edmond, Chief Marketing Officer @ Future Energy Global
“For years, we’ve been dreaming about having a network of aviation professionals that are spread over the industry, all wanting to make a positive change towards making the aviation industry less polluting. This call to action comes at exactly the right time, to give all of these motivated people the necessary backing and mental support to continue driving change from inside the world’s biggest aviation companies!”
Louis Lammertyn, Co-founder @ BookBetter
“In every aviation professional who cares so much for the values of flight, there is always serious concern about climate change and our growing impact. That is my takeaway from more than a hundred conversations. Now the time has come to acknowledge this together, as an aviation community, and call for a change of course that keeps us within planetary boundaries, full of innovation and less dependent on growth.”
Karel Bockstael, Former Vice President Sustainability @ KLM
“Navigating climate turbulence requires a plan: Moving from fragmentation and polarisation to timely, coherent implementation must be grounded in a shared vision and aligned pathways to inform planning. This Call to Action marks the first step toward a shared vision. The next step is to develop pathways. Let’s build these together—drawing on valuable sustainable aviation initiatives, openness to rethink mobility, and rooted in justice principles for an aviation sector that operates within planetary boundaries.”
Udeke Huiskamp, Transdisciplinary research manager @ Utrecht University Pathways to Sustainability Program | Former Director Sustainability @ KLM
“In our tremendously successful drive for efficiency, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner – a corner we need to get out of if we truly want to address the climate impact of our industry. I’m excited to see passionate professionals join forces in this initiative to transform aviation. Let’s get started with another pioneering age!”
Bram Peerlings, Researcher aviation sustainability
The sooner we start this transformation, the better. For our industry, as well as for the planet. The sooner we start, the more time we have available for experimentation, and for the inevitable trial and error we will face. The later we act, the more of our carbon budget we will already have spent, and the more pressure we will face to get it right in one go.