EFFICIENT KITCHENS IN GUJARAT, UTTAR PRADESH AND MADHYA PRADESH -VPA02

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard improved-cookstove project in India with VVB-confirmed additionality and a locally measured FNRB, but undermined by the discovery of 131 duplicate stoves, an unaddressed reversal risk, no buffer pool, and a long list of corrective actions. The project is functional and transparent in its MRV approach, yet the over-crediting risk flagged by the duplicate finding and the project-specific baseline warrant caution before claiming at face value.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠131 Jumbo stoves were identified as duplicates in another Gold Standard project (GS10818) and had to be removed from the database, indicating a material over-crediting risk that was only caught during verification
• ⚠Reversal events are explicitly not addressed in the available documents, and no buffer pool percentage is stated, leaving the permanence of the claimed emissions reductions unsecured
• ⚠Twenty corrective actions were required by the VVB, spanning PoA documentation, stakeholder consultation, safeguards assessment, and additionality justification, suggesting the project documentation was not fully robust at the time of verification

Credit Vintages