This year-long initiative is provided at no cost to participating properties and supports tourism accommodation establishments to:

• Understand where their environmental and carbon impacts come from through baseline carbon assessments conducted by ETC Africa

• Improve efficiency and reduce impacts over time using tailored benchmarks and carbon budgets

• Build confidence in responding to guest questions about climate and tourism through capacity-building workshops

• Engage constructively with localized, nature-based contribution projects including community engagement, tree propagation, and education initiatives

• Share ideas, innovations, and best practices - the little things that can make a big difference

Capacity building sits at the core of the programme. Through virtual sessions and in-person cluster workshops, accommodation champions learn to measure and report emissions, implement reduction strategies, and communicate their efforts to guests.

By the end of the year, participating accommodations receive a certification membership and guest-facing storytelling assets to share their sustainability journey. This partnership reflects our belief that thoughtfully designed tourism can influence behavior, build awareness, and support conservation economies at scale.

Carbon footprinting is used as a management and learning tool, not a marketing label or a measure of moral worth.

Sometime its useful to understand what something is “not” - To be clear, this programme is not:

• About selling carbon credits

• About claiming carbon neutrality or net zero stays

• About simply offsetting away the impacts of travel

• About audits, rankings, or penalties

• About perfection or complete data from day one

• Nature-based activities associated with the programme are intended to support stewardship, education, and connection - not to cancel emissions.

Travel and tourism play a critical role in protecting large areas of South Africa's most important carbon sinks and biodiversity landscapes. Many wild areas remain intact because tourism creates value for conservation, livelihoods, and land stewardship.  Without guest revenue, many of these landscapes would face conversion to agriculture, mining, or subdivision - activities with far higher carbon and ecological costs.

At the same time, tourism has real environmental impacts. This programme exists to address both truths honestly - supporting better operational decisions while reinforcing the positive role of responsible travel.

Participation in this programme is not a one-off assessment. It is a collaborative process focused on understanding impacts, identifying opportunities for improvement, and taking practical steps forward.

Lodges are supported throughout by the project team, with a strong emphasis on shared learning and peer exchange.

Participation Expectations

The following expectations are designed to ensure the programme delivers real value and meaningful outcomes for all involved.

Core Requirements (Non-Negotiable)

These are essential for participation:

• Appoint a Lodge Climate Champion: A named individual who will act as the primary point of contact and coordinate engagement with the project team.

• Commit to Improvement, Not Just Measurement: Participating lodges are expected to work with the project team to identify, implement, and measure at least one practical operational improvement during the programme period (and we will help you identify these).

• Provide Available Operational Data: Share existing data on energy use, fuel (where known), waste, transport/travel, and occupancy.

• Work Collaboratively on Data Gaps: Where data is incomplete or unavailable, work openly with the project team to explore conservative estimates or future measurement options.

• Engage in Programme Activities: Attend workshops and training sessions where possible, and participate in discussions and knowledge sharing.

Strongly Encouraged Behaviours

These behaviours significantly strengthen outcomes:

• Share Experiences and Learnings: Contribute insights, challenges, and solutions to the learning process.

• Explore Community and Guest Engagement: Be open to engaging with community or conservation initiatives (e.g. recycling, composting, tree planting, education), and to sharing these stories with guests in an appropriate way.

• Communicate Responsibly: Use the agreed project language when communicating publicly about climate action and avoid exaggerated or unsupported claims.

Values-Led Participation

These are not obligations, but reflect the spirit of the programme:

• Approach the programme as a partnership, not a once-off service

• Ask questions and challenge assumptions where helpful

• Be open to learning and adaptation as the project evolves

Verified Impact Programme Schedule – 2026

The Verified Impact Programme will be delivered through a structured series of regional workshops and training sessions. All sessions will be conducted online via MS Teams. Calendar invitations and access links will be circulated in advance of each session. Unless otherwise specified, all workshops take place from 10h00–12h00.

Introductory Workshop

This session introduces the Verified Impact framework, programme expectations, timelines, and participation requirements. It sets the foundation for the year and clarifies how carbon measurement, benchmarking, and verification will work.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 4 March 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 5 March 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 6 March 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 9 March 2026

• Garden Route – 10 March 2026

Training: Greenhouse Gas Accounting Workshops

A three-part training series designed to build practical understanding of carbon accounting, emissions categories, data collection, and reporting standards. These sessions provide the technical foundation for accurate carbon footprint assessments.

Workshop 1 – Carbon Foundations

Introduction to greenhouse gas accounting principles, scopes of emissions, and data requirements for tourism properties.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 11 March 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 12 March 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 13 March 2026

Workshop 2 – Data Collection & Reporting

Practical guidance on gathering operational data, applying emissions factors, and structuring accurate carbon reports.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 13 April 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 14 April 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 15 April 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 16 April 2026

• Garden Route – 17 April 2026

Workshop 3 – Interpretation & Improvement

Understanding results, identifying reduction opportunities, and preparing for benchmarking and verification.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 7 May 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 8 May 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 11 May 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 12 May 2026

• Garden Route – 13 May 2026

Knowledge and Idea Sharing Workshops

A series of focused sessions exploring performance improvement, emissions reductions, and responsible offset strategies.

Efficiency & Innovation

Exploring operational efficiencies, renewable energy opportunities, water and waste optimisation, and innovation within tourism properties.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 8 June 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 9 June 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 10 June 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 11 June 2026

• Garden Route – 12 June 2026

Internal Offsets and Reductions

Identifying internal reduction strategies and understanding how operational changes contribute to measurable emissions improvements.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 6 July 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 7 July 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 8 July 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 9 July 2026

• Garden Route – 10 July 2026

• External Offsets and Impact

Understanding credible offset mechanisms, evaluating external impact projects, and aligning offsets with responsible tourism principles.

• KwaZulu-Natal – 3 August 2026

• Limpopo / Mpumalanga – 4 August 2026

• Cape Peninsula – 5 August 2026

• Cape Winelands & Overberg – 6 August 2026

• Garden Route – 7 August 2026

Additional Support

One-on-one support sessions will be available on an ad hoc basis throughout the programme. These sessions provide tailored guidance and will be scheduled individually with participating properties.

Month 1-2: Onboarding, data collection, first workshops

Month 3-5: Baseline assessment complete, improvement opportunities identified

Month 6-10: Monthly support, implement changes, peer learning

Month 11-12: Final assessment, reporting, Climate Badge and storytelling assets

By the end of the Verified Impact pilot programme, we aim to see meaningful progress at several levels across the programme as a whole, within individual properties and in how tourism talks about climate and conservation.

At a Programme Level

• A cohort of properties that can clearly and confidently articulate the positive role travel plays in protecting wild places, alongside the responsibility to reduce environmental impacts.

• A shared understanding that demand for responsible tourism actively supports conservation landscapes and functioning carbon sinks, rather than undermining them.

• A practical, repeatable model for measuring and improving environmental performance within ecotourism operations.

At a Property Level

• Each participating property has a clear baseline understanding of where its main environmental and carbon impacts come from.

• Each property will have the skills and know-how to measure, manage, and report their carbon footprint into the future.

• Each property has identified at least one meaningful operational improvement and taken practical steps to implement it during the programme period.

• Teams feel more informed and confident responding to guest questions about climate change, travel, and impact.

• Properties are able to clearly define why their area of operation is better off because of their presence.

• Carbon footprinting is understood and used as a management and learning tool.

At an Operational and Learning Level

• Data gaps are better understood, with clear pathways identified for improved measurement over time.

• Properties have shared challenges, solutions, and insights, contributing to a collaborative learning environment.

• Practical efficiency opportunities (energy, fuel, waste, refrigeration, operations) have been identified that continue to deliver benefits beyond the life of the programme.

At a Conservation and Community Level

• Properties have explored or initiated appropriate, place-based contributions that connect guests to conservation, community stewardship, or ecosystem restoration.

• Guests are exposed to a more balanced and constructive narrative about travel's role in protecting wild landscapes.

• Nature-based activities are positioned as leaving something positive behind, rather than as carbon offsets or claims of neutrality.

At a Narrative and Culture Level

• A shift away from guilt-based messaging toward transparency, responsibility, and progress.

• Stronger alignment between operational realities properties face and public communication.

• A shared language across properties and partners that is honest, defensible, and future-proof.

In Summary

By the end of the programme, participating properties will have measured what matters, improved where they can, and contributed to a clearer, more hopeful story about how responsible travel helps protect wild places and actually mitigates climate change.

Your data is confidential. We will never share financial or operationally sensitive information without your explicit consent. Public reporting focuses on aggregated insights and opt-in case studies only.

Progress is valued over perfection

Terms & Conditions of Participation

1. Programme Overview

The Verified Impact Programme is a structured, year-long initiative designed to support participating properties in measuring, improving, and demonstrating their environmental and social impact.

Participation includes workshops, training sessions, carbon footprint assessments, benchmarking, and verification processes delivered primarily via MS Teams.

2. Participation Commitment

• Participation in the programme requires active engagement by the property.

• Participating properties agree to:

• Attend scheduled workshops and training sessions (or ensure appropriate team representatives attend).

• Provide accurate, complete, and timely operational and environmental data required for carbon assessment and benchmarking.

• Respond to reasonable information requests within agreed timeframes.

• Engage constructively in the improvement and verification process.

Attendance and data submission are essential to enable proper assessment, benchmarking, and verification. Failure to provide required information may delay or prevent completion of the process.

3. No Participation Fee

There is no charge to join or participate in the Verified Impact Programme, subject to full engagement and completion of participation requirements.

4. Withdrawal and Non-Participation

The programme is provided at no cost on the understanding that participating properties commit to active and complete participation.

If a property:

• Withdraws from the programme after commencement;

• Fails to attend required workshops without reasonable cause;

• Fails to provide necessary data to enable carbon assessment and verification;

Verified Impact reserves the right to recover professional costs incurred. Such cost recovery may reflect the time, expertise, and technical work already undertaken and may amount to up to ZAR 30,000 depending on the stage of withdrawal and work completed. Cost recovery will be proportionate to work performed.

5. Data Integrity

Participating properties confirm that all data provided will be accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge.

Verified Impact relies on the integrity of submitted information to ensure credible assessment and verification outcomes.

6. Verification and Recognition

Recognition under the Verified Impact Programme is contingent upon completion of required workshops and training, submission of necessary data, completion of carbon assessment and benchmarking, and meeting programme verification criteria.

Verified Impact reserves the right to withhold recognition if participation requirements are not met.

7. Programme Adjustments

Verified Impact reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to workshop schedules, session formats, or timelines, provided participating properties are notified in advance.

8. Acceptance

By submitting the participation form and engaging in the programme, the property acknowledges and agrees to these Terms & Conditions.