CCB Gold Level Distinctions Explained

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

CCB Gold Level explained: the three CCB distinctions for adaptation, community and biodiversity benefits, and how Indonesian projects can earn them.

CCB Gold Level is an optional distinction under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards for projects that deliver exceptional benefits. There are three Gold Level criteria: Climate Change Adaptation Benefits, Exceptional Community Benefits and Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits, and a project can earn any one or more of them on top of the core CCB requirements.

The CCB Standards are managed by Verra and are usually combined with VCS carbon accounting. Read CCB Standards for the core requirements. Gold Level is where a project can show that it does more than “do no harm”.

The three Gold Level criteria

The detailed indicators are in the current version of the CCB Standards. Check the Verra website for the version and rules in force.

How to earn Gold Level step by step

1. Decide early. Gold Level requirements shape project design, especially community targeting and biodiversity monitoring.
2. Collect baseline data. Socio-economic surveys, climate risk analysis or biodiversity surveys before the project starts.
3. Design activities to meet the criterion. For example, target benefit sharing to poorer households, or design patrols around threatened species.
4. Set indicators and monitoring. Each criterion needs measurable indicators and a monitoring plan.
5. Describe it in the project description. The combined VCS-CCB project description sets out how each Gold Level criterion is met.
6. Validate. The VVB tests whether the criteria are met.
7. Verify. At each verification, show the benefits are being delivered, not just planned.

Indonesia and Southeast Asia application

Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits. Indonesian forests support globally threatened species such as orangutans, Sumatran tigers, elephants, hornbills and many endemic plants. Lowland and peat swamp forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and mangroves across the archipelago, are often sites of high significance. Projects must show that species are present, that the site matters for them, and that the project maintains or improves their status. Camera traps, acoustic monitoring and eDNA are increasingly used. Read biodiversity monitoring with acoustics and eDNA and high conservation value.

Exceptional Community Benefits. Smallholder ARR, social forestry and customary forest projects fit well. Permenhut 6/2026 names social forestry, customary forests and communities as legitimate, equal participants in forestry carbon trading, which supports community-led designs. The project must show that poorer and vulnerable people benefit, with transparent governance. Read community engagement and benefit sharing.

Climate Change Adaptation Benefits. Mangrove restoration that protects coastlines, agroforestry that diversifies farm income, and peat rewetting that reduces fire risk can all qualify if adaptation needs are analysed and outcomes monitored.

Pitfalls verifiers flag

• Gold Level claimed without baseline data.
• Biodiversity claims based on literature only, with no site surveys.
• Community benefits that are averaged across a village, hiding who actually benefits.
• Adaptation benefits asserted without a climate risk analysis.
• Monitoring that stops after validation.

Indicators that work

Good Gold Level indicators are specific and measurable. Examples:

• household income from project activities, split by wealth group and gender;
• share of benefit payments reaching the poorest households;
• encounter rates of a threatened species on fixed transects or camera trap grids;
• area of habitat under effective protection;
• number of households with diversified income after a drought or flood.

Each indicator needs a baseline value, a method, a frequency and a responsible team. Keep raw survey data, not only summaries, so the VVB can check them.

Gold Level and other co-benefit claims

Gold Level is assessed by the VVB as part of CCB validation and verification, and the distinction appears with the project’s CCB status. Buyers who want to make claims about community or biodiversity outcomes should cite the verified Gold Level criteria rather than general project marketing, and should check that the latest verification confirmed them.

Is it worth it?

Gold Level adds cost for surveys, monitoring and documentation. It pays off where buyers value strong co-benefits or where biodiversity outcomes could later support biodiversity credits under frameworks such as the Verra Nature Framework. Our biodiversity valuation service designs monitoring that serves both. See the standards hub for related standards.