GS11935 GS11934 RVPA-48 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 a 13-year-old project-specific baseline (2010), absence of a buffer pool, unaddressed reversal risk, and multiple inter-document contradictions including a direct conflict on whether FPIC was conducted. The identical claimed and verified ERR figures (47,333 tCO₂e) suggest the 'verified' number is simply the ex-ante estimate repeated rather than an independent measurement.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Baseline survey conducted in 2010 for a crediting period starting October 2023 — a 13-year gap that the VVB itself flagged in FAR 4 as potentially irrelevant for firewood consumption
• ⚠FPIC status directly contradicted between the validation report (conducted) and the PDD (not conducted); the PDD is dated 2024-09-13, only two weeks before the validation report
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage stated and reversal events explicitly 'not addressed' — for a cookstove project where households may revert to traditional cooking, this is a material permanence gap
• ⚠Total ERR claimed and total ERR verified are identical (47,333 tCO₂e), indicating no independent verification of actual emissions reductions has been reported
• ⚠Min extraction confidence rated 'low', meaning at least one key document was poorly readable, reducing reliability of the extracted record

Credit Vintages