Verified Impact is a carbon footprint measurement and benchmarking programme for eco-lodges and boutique properties across Southern Africa, built on real, measured activity data rather than estimates. From July to November 2026, the programme is running a free online Knowledge Series, open to anyone in the tourism industry who wants to properly understand what it actually takes to measure a carbon footprint accurately and reduce their impact.
Verified Impact is pioneering the kimkim Climate Action Plan pilot, delivered in partnership with the Wilderness Leadership School, ETC Africa, and The Eco Travel Boutique. Together, the partners are currently working with around 25 properties across Southern Africa helping them measure and understand their carbon footprint, providing practical training, benchmarking performance against best practice as well as equipping properties to communicate their impact transparently and authentically to guests and trade partners.
The VI Knowledge Series is open to property owners, sustainability leads, marketing teams, guides, and operators who are still trying to figure out where and how to start measuring their carbon footprint.
The series takes place as free monthly online sessions from July to November 2026. Programme lead, Duncan Pritchard of ETC-Africa, a Carbon Footprint and Greenhouse Gas expert as well as other experts will be sharing what the data is actually saying: what’s working, what isn’t, what the real levers are for reducing a property’s footprint and how the tourism industry can bring this in to the guest experience.
“It is important that the industry moves away from jargon, greenwashing, and theory that is divorced from what’s happening on the ground,” says Pritchard. ‘We will be sharing patterns that are showing up across scores of real operations we are working with, and the practical thinking that comes out of them.”
“Climate literacy is fast becoming as essential to tourism as service standards or guest safety,” says Pritchard. “Travellers are asking harder questions about the footprint of their trip. Agents and buyers are building carbon and sustainability credentials into how they choose who to work with. And properties that understand their own impact, and can talk about it with real confidence, are the ones building trust with both.”
“The problem is, most of the industry is flying blind on this. Few properties actually measure their carbon footprint, let alone understand what it involves or how their footprint measures up against peers. Sustainability claims are often more marketing than substance. And there’s a real cost to getting it wrong. Carbon accounting is what ensures we keep sustainability claims honest and backed by verifiable data”
ETC Africa has spent years gathering real baseline data from tourism properties across Southern Africa, measured and benchmarked into one of the most detailed pictures of eco-tourism carbon performance the region has seen.
Each session runs about an hour and is built to be genuinely interactive. Participants are invite to bring questions, their owns experience, what has worked and what has not.
Different sessions speak to different parts of a business, and attendees are welcome to pick the ones most useful to them. “While the series is built around hotels, lodges and property managers, whether running a single property or a whole portfolio, the value doesn’t stop there. Travel agents, tour operators, and anyone else whose livelihood is tied to tourism will find it just as relevant.”
Session line-up:
· Carbon Literacy: The Basics That Stick, 22 July 2026 (11h00) The essentials: what a carbon footprint is, how it’s measured, and what terms like offsets, avoided emissions and intensity reporting actually mean.
· Data That Doesn’t Lie: 5 August 2026 (11h00) What real portfolio data is telling us about carbon performance, the traps that quietly wreck data quality, and practical ways to get yours right.
· The Low-Carbon Kitchen: 26 August 2026 (11h00) Food-waste and sourcing wins from real properties, busting common myths, and how to bring your kitchen’s sustainability story to guests.
· Telling Your Climate Story: 16 September 2026 (11h00) Why guides and front-of-house are your most powerful storytellers — making climate part of the guest experience, without the greenwash.
· Speaking Climate Without Spin: 21 October 2026 (11h00) Communicating with credibility for marketing teams, taking the guilt out of travel, and turning numbers into a story guests actually connect with.
· What Agents & Buyers Want: 18 November 2026 (11h00) with The Eco Travel Boutique – Global trends in responsible sourcing and carbon transparency, what certifications really mean, and what agents and clients are actually asking for behind the scenes.
Registration is open here. Attendees can select the sessions relevant to them and will receive meeting details directly. For more information go to: https://www.verifiedtourismimpact.org/
