Cool Effect

Cool Effect
Cool Effect is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with headquarters in the Bay Area. Cool Effect uses the revenue from donations to fund carbon emission reduction projects worldwide. These projects have been certified to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by certification organizations including the Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) among others. Projects listed on the digital platform include fuel-reducing cookstoves, methane capture and avoided deforestation.
The currency by which projects reduce carbon emissions are called carbon credits carbon credits or carbon offset. One carbon offset compensates for the emission of 1 tonne of carbon dioxide (mTCO2e) into the atmosphere by preventing 1 tonne of CO2 from entering the atmosphere elsewhere on earth, or by removing a tonne of CO2 that is already in the atmosphere.

Why Cool Effect
The average American, simply by going about his or her daily life—breathing, blow-drying hair, cooking dinner—emits 17 tonnes of carbon dioxide (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/datablog/2009/sep/02/carbon-emissions-per-person-capita) into the atmosphere per year. While most who are concerned about global warming are helping to reduce their impacts by recycling, taking public transport, eating less meat, creating a solar program or driving an electric car it is impossible to reduce emissions to 0 simply by these measures.
Cool Effect enables individuals to purchase high quality carbon emission reduction credits that have been scientifically proven to help reduce global warming. Donations support carbon emission reduction projects around the world including cookstoves in Uganda, Peru and Malawi; Methane capture in Colorado and a forest project in Peru. Each project deploys technologies that have been scientifically proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Founding
Cool Effect was founded in December, 2016 and officially announced during the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP 21 hel(http://www.cop21paris.org/about/about-us in Paris) held in Paris, France. The organization grew out of the founder’s frustration with the lack of opportunities for individuals to take verifiable, concrete action against global warming I combination with their experience and knowledge of carbon credits and the carbon market.
For 11 years, Cool Effect founders Richard and Dee Lawrence have managed Proyecto Mirador (http://www.goldstandard.org/projects/proyecto-mirador-enhanced-distribution-improved-cookstoves-latin-america), a Gold Standard, fuel efficient, clean cookstove project based in Honduras. The project has installed 115,000 improved cookstoves in rural Honduras. The Lawrences learned that by installing improved technology, no matter how primitive (converting waste to energy or reducing wood use), projects reduce CO2. When properly verified, documented and scientifically reviewed, these emission reductions can help reduce global warming. When carbon is done correctly, it works, but it must be done correctly.
While governments and companies are making efforts to reduce emissions, their efforts are quite small and without a push from individuals, it will be impossible to keep the temperature of the earth rising less than 2 degrees Celsius (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/why-2-degrees-celsius-is-climate-changes-magic-number/).
Project Certification
Cool Effect only supports projects that are 100% additional. Additionality means that the project’s reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would not exist or be created without financing from the sale of carbon credits.. For a project to be considered additional, it cannot have any other source of significant revenues or government funding. To summarize, A project can only be considered additional:
* If it is not legally required to fulfill official policies, regulations or industry standards
* If it is not profitable without revenue from carbon offsets
* If there are barriers that prevent its implementation regardless of profitability
* It must employ technologies that are not already in common use.
Project financials are also be reviewed in order to assess the percentage of the donation used for on-the-ground project activities and that the project is able to share updates with supporters.
All documentation created by the project must have undergone technical review by the Certification group. Sample key documents required by the Certification group include Project Design Document (PDD), monitoring and and verification reports. Each project must also have been independently verified with a site visit by a third party such as a United Nations Designated Operational Entity (https://cdm.unfccc.int/DOE/index.html).
To this Cool Effect adds another layer of scientific review and often site visits by Global Offset Research (https://cdm.unfccc.int/DOE/index.html). Links to all the projects on the Cool Effect platform can be found here https://www.cooleffect.org/content/take-action/support-a-project/
Project Pricing
Carbon reduction project pricing is set by the project not by Cool Effect. Cool Effect is independent of the project: it does not manage nor does it participate in the creation of the project. Pricing of projects is per metric tonne of CO2 equivalent gases and can range from four dollars to thirteen dollars per tonne. There is complete price transparency to donors so that it is clear what percentage of a donation is actually delivered to the project.
Donors can choose to support an individual project or a portfolio of all the projects on a one time or monthly subscription basis.

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