How Go Balance Delivers Verified REDD+ Impact with Natural Capital Credits
How Go Balance Measures the Impacts that Matter in the Trocano Araretama REDD+ Project
In the world of climate solutions, “impact” is a widely used term — but often lacks clear definition. In REDD+ projects, the definition of real, measurable, and lasting impact is often overlooked or oversimplified. This ambiguity can lead to confusion and market scepticism. At Go Balance, we believe a truly impactful REDD+ initiative must address these challenges head-on. Impact, for us, begins with a verifiable climate outcome: the measurable, independently verified avoidance of carbon emissions from deforestation. Through the implementation of the Go Balance Trocano Araretama Project in the Brazilian Amazon, we achieve Natural Capital Credits — each representing one tonne of avoided emissions through credible, risk-based forest protection.
However, impact isn’t defined by numbers alone. It’s also about the lives behind those numbers, the pristine forests that stand because communities have the tools and empowerment to protect them, and the robust systems in place to prove that it’s working. This is what we mean by meaningful REDD+ impact. We deliver this through the Go Balance Trocano Project, implemented under the Natural Forest Standard. The NFS includes community benefits and biodiversity protection as essential requirements, fully integrated alongside emission avoidance.
Measuring What Matters: Carbon as the Metric, Community as the Foundation
While Go Balance delivers significant community and biodiversity benefits, the integrity of the carbon remains our core metric. Each Natural Capital Credit represents a tonne of CO₂e avoided emissions — independently quantified and verified. We recognise that buyers in the voluntary carbon market require verifiable results and transparency. Working to the Natural Forest Standard (NFS), we apply a risk-based carbon methodology, third-party verification, and transparent reporting to meet — and exceed — those expectations.
Our approach goes further. By embedding community resilience programs and biodiversity safeguards into the project design, we reinforce the very conditions that keep the forest standing. The result: Natural Capital Credits that deliver real, additional, measurable climate REDD+ impact. The Trocano REDD+ Project begins with avoided carbon emissions as its foundation. We strengthen this with local agency, sustainable development, and Amazon rainforest protection. Together, these elements create a durable, nature-based climate solution.
Carbon First: Maximising Climate Resilience
The central objective of the Go Balance Trocano Project is to prevent deforestation—and therefore prevent the emissions that would have resulted from it. That is what Natural Capital Credits represent – one verified tonne of avoided carbon emissions, applying the risk-based methodology and satellite data.
We achieve this by working under the Natural Forest Standard (NFS), which applies a conservative, risk-based methodology to carbon credit quantification. This approach rigorously addresses common concerns about over-crediting, and includes:
- Risk mapping: Spatial mapping of deforestation risk using open-source satellite data from NASA JPL and INPE (Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research) across an entire geographic region.
- Independent baselines: Reference levels set programmatically at the regional scale, not project-by-project
- Risk-weighted crediting: Prudent carbon quantification – carbon eligibility is tiered by risk category and capped, up to 80% issuance in the highest risk areas, falling to 0% in very low-risk areas.
- Consistent methodology: Risk categorization of allowable, claimable carbon benefits applied to carbon credit calculations regionally and applied across all project areas.
In this way, the Natural Forest Standard ensures that every credit issued represents a legitimate and conservative climate impact. For Go Balance, this sets a benchmark for integrity in the voluntary carbon market for the Natural Capital Credits achieved through the Trocano Araretama Project.
Beyond the Tonne: The Integral Role of Community and Biodiversity
Avoiding emissions by preventing deforestation is the foundation of REDD+. But carbon figures alone don’t tell the whole story. Each verified tonne from the Trocano Project represents hectares of living forest. These forests are protected by the people who depend on them, supported through training, education, and long-term investment in local resilience.
Satellite data can confirm canopy cover; but it’s the on-the-ground actions that keep it intact. That is why Go Balance partners directly with the Municipality of Borba and collaborates with local organisations to reduce deforestation drivers and raise the value of standing forest:
- Environmental education in schools, cultivating future forest guardians.
- Fire-prevention & firefighter training, safeguarding lives and landscapes.
- Sustainable livelihood programmes, reducing economic pressure to clear land.
- Health and social outreach, strengthening community well-being.
These activities do not exist separately from the carbon results—they underpin them. They make long-term carbon performance possible by engaging the communities that are the true stewards of the forest. By empowering the true stewards of the forest, we secure the durability of every Natural Capital Credit.
Explore our article on What it means to be a REDD+ project developer for deeper insight
Independent Verification and Market Assurance
All Natural Capital Credits achieved by the Go Balance Trocano Project undergo full third-party verification. An independent, accredited Validation and Verification Body (VVB) carries this out. This robust oversight process is a fundamental requirement for credibility in the voluntary carbon market.
Go Balance is responsible for implementing the project and achieving the results; the issuance and validation of Natural Capital Credits are conducted entirely by external, accredited bodies. This clear separation ensures independent assessment of every credit and alignment with the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
These processes are not optional; they are central to how the project reduces deforestation risk—by making the forest more valuable standing than cut, and by building trust, knowledge, and pride in forest stewardship. Each success builds REDD+ impact for community resilience, and each action reinforces the credibility of the credits we help generate.
Enabling Carbon Confidence in Verified Carbon Credits
In today’s market, buyers face increasing pressure to demonstrate the quality and reliability of the carbon credits they procure. Verified REDD+ outcomes must stand up to scrutiny, avoid reputational risk, and contribute to durable climate goals. That’s why Go Balance prioritises:
- Conservative carbon estimates
- Independent Oversight under the Natural Forest Standard
- Third-party Verification through independent VVBs
- Transparent reporting and traceability
Through this approach, the Go Balance Trocano Project delivers REDD+ impact with Natural Capital Credits. These credits meet the expectations of both buyers and stakeholders, and are designed to achieve climate benefits with rigour. Each one represents a genuine avoided deforestation outcome.
Added Buyer Assurance: Embedded Insurance for Natural Capital Credits
To further strengthen buyer confidence, Go Balance has partnered with AMI Specialty and CFC, leading insurance providers, to integrate an advanced, seamless insurance solution for our Natural Capital Credits.
This unique feature provides robust protection against cancellation and non-delivery risks as a standard component of our NCCs, simplifying the process for buyers and ensuring peace of mind from the moment of purchase. This embedded insurance, underwritten by CFC, covers various risks, including weather and political events. This reinforces our commitment to dependability and integrity across all credit vintages.
When purchasing Natural Capital Credits from Go Balance, buyers can be confident that they are securing genuine climate outcomes—and supporting a system that robustly protects both forests and the communities that depend on them.
Built on Trust: Why Integrity Sets Go Balance Apart
In a market where scrutiny is rising, integrity is everything. That’s why Go Balance works under the Natural Forest Standard — a risk-based methodology grounded in transparency, third-party oversight, and publicly available data. We don’t just aim to reduce emissions. We work to ensure that every benefit is traceable, and every community outcome is real.
This is what sets the Go Balance Trocano Project apart. It’s an approach where Natural Capital Credits are achieved through verified forest protection, long-term collaboration, and measurable REDD+ impact — for climate, biodiversity, and people.
That’s what impact means to us. Not just a number. Not just a promise. But a result you can see, measure, and believe in.