Ecofiltro Guatemala Improved Stoves and Water Purification Project

Audit Analysis

A long-running Gold Standard domestic energy-efficiency project (improved stoves and water filters in Guatemala) with verified additionality and no reversal events, but plagued by an unusually large volume of material findings, data-quality inconsistencies, and multiple deviations requiring credit removals. The absence of a buffer pool, a 0% leakage deduction justified only as 'negligible,' and a project-specific baseline limit the robustness of the claims. The VVB (Carbon Check India) caught most issues and required corrections, but the sheer number of corrective actions signals weak internal QA/QC.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Over 50 material findings across verification reports, including formula errors in the ER calculation spreadsheet, mismatches in total Ecofiltro counts, and inconsistencies between sales databases and paper records
• ⚠Two separate deviations required removal of 19,918 tCO2e and 16,713 tCO2e from issued credits, indicating prior over-issuance
• ⚠No buffer pool is in place (not stated in any available document), leaving no financial backstop against potential reversals or over-crediting
• ⚠Leakage deduction of 0% justified only as 'deemed negligible' without a quantified assessment, despite a project type where households could purchase additional fuelwood or resell filters
• ⚠Only 60% of bulk sales had signed Carbon Rights Waivers at the time of verification, raising double-claiming and ownership risks

Credit Vintages