SEATTLE—Cool Effect, a Bay Area based nonprofit focused on fighting the climate crisis, announced a partnership with Ensemble Travel Group, a travel advisor network of approximately 760 top-tier, independent travel agencies committed to providing individuals with meaningful travel experiences. The partnership kicks off with Ensemble offsetting its carbon footprint with Cool Effect for the 2019 International Conference: Travel With Purpose. Simultaneously, Cool Effect’s Travel Offset Tool will be incorporated on Ensemble’s platform for members to quickly and easily offset the carbon footprint of air travel.
The partnership was announced at Ensemble’s annual travel conference during a panel discussing the topic of Responsible Travel and the Advisor: The Front Line for Purposeful Travel. Discussing the importance of sustainable travel, Cool Effect’s Director of Marketing, Jodi Manning, spoke on the panel. “We are thrilled to be working with such a prominent group in the travel industry,” Manning said. “Carbon emissions from travel are only increasing—with air travel alone projected to hit one billion tons in 2020—so it’s crucial for the industry to take steps in reducing carbon pollution. We are honored to work with Ensemble in becoming a leader in the sustainable travel space.”
As the first consortia in the travel industry to make such a commitment, Ensemble offset all attendee travel and the footprint of the conference through Cool Effect’s Jacundá Forest Reserve carbon reduction project based in Brazil. The project protects carbon-sequestering rubber trees in the Amazon rainforest while providing jobs to the local community. In addition, Cool Effect assisted Ensemble in seamlessly integrating the Travel Offset Tool into their site for their members to easily offset the carbon footprint of air travel.
“Travel takes an incredible toll on our planet and it’s important that we do our part in leading this industry to making more sustainable decisions,” said David Harris, CEO of Ensemble Travel Group. “We’re thrilled to ensure our conference is carbon neutral as well as offer Cool Effect’s Travel Offset Tool on our platform moving forward. This will allow our network of thousands of advisors to make offsetting travel a seamless and easy process for our travelers.”
The Jacundá Forest Reserve project ensures sustainability and socioeconomic development with a variety of benefits, including job creation, sustainable crops and farming techniques, protection of 16 endangered flora species and 14 endangered fauna species, and construction of new houses with improved quality of living. This is just one of many projects featured on the Cool Effect platform that verifiably reduces greenhouse gas emissions and benefits local communities.
