GS11935 GS11934 RVPA-10 Promoting sustainable use of biomass energy resources in targeted communities

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard cookstove project in Nepal with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by significant contradictions in ERR figures (87,941 vs 47,027), a 100% usage-rate assumption, a project-specific baseline, and seven open corrective actions. The more recent verification report's ERR figure is roughly 87% higher than the validation report's ex-ante estimate, raising over-crediting concerns. Documentation is reasonably complete (14 sources) but the medium extraction confidence and multiple CARs temper confidence in data reliability.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠ERR contradiction: the verification report (Apr 2025) reports 87,941 tCO₂e while the validation report (Sep 2024) reports 47,027 tCO₂e — a near-doubling that, if the validation figure is the lifetime ex-ante estimate, implies the project delivered ~187% of its full 5-year estimate in a single monitoring year
• ⚠Usage-rate assumption of 100% (every stove used every day) is aggressive for a rural cookstove deployment and is inconsistent with the PDD's figure of 1.0 (likely a ratio vs percentage mismatch, but the underlying assumption is unconservative)
• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory across two validation reports: the earlier (Nov 2023) says conducted, the later (Sep 2024) says not conducted — the more recent document indicates FPIC was NOT performed
• ⚠Seven corrective actions remain open, including a non-conservative approach to the first-vintage end date and leakage not clearly shown in the ER calculation

Credit Vintages