CPA 058 – Charcoal Stoves in Kenya

Audit Analysis

The BioLite Improved Cook Stoves Programme in Kenya is a long-running Gold Standard energy-efficiency project with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but it is undermined by a significant discrepancy between the PDD's lifetime ERR estimate and the issuance figure, the absence of any stated buffer pool or permanence mechanism over a 20-year crediting period, and multiple unresolved corrective actions from the verification report. The project's core design is sound, yet documentation gaps and data inconsistencies limit confidence in the claimed credits.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠The PDD reports a lifetime ERR of 1,498,873 tCO2e while the issuance document (same date, 2024-11-18) shows 2,649,011 tCO2e — a 77% overage that is unexplained in the extracted record.
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or permanence mechanism is stated anywhere in the available documents despite a 20-year crediting period (2018–2038).
• ⚠The verification report lists at least eight corrective actions (missing VPA information, missing stove-ID evidence, missing sample-size calculations, missing SDG and Safeguarding Principles assessments, missing design consultation details) that remain open.
• ⚠Total verified ERR for the 2023 monitoring period is not available in the extracted record, preventing an independent over/under-delivery check.

Credit Vintages