GS11935 GS11934 RVPA-56 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 direct contradiction on FPIC status, an unverified 100% usage-rate assumption, absence of any buffer pool or permanence mechanism, and identical claimed/verified ERR figures that raise questions about independent verification. Multiple open corrective actions and low document extraction confidence further erode confidence in the project's data integrity.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC contradiction: the PDD (2024-09-13) states FPIC was NOT conducted, while the validation report (2023-11-30) states it was — a fundamental safeguards discrepancy
• ⚠Usage rate assumed at 100% in the validation report but 1 in the appendix; usage_rate_verified is not stated, leaving the core efficiency assumption unconfirmed
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage stated and reversal events explicitly 'not addressed' for a cookstove project where stove failure or abandonment is a realistic risk
• ⚠Total ERR claimed and verified are identical (47,333 tCO2e) with no monitoring period stated, making it impossible to confirm independent verification of actual performance
• ⚠Six corrective action requests remain open at validation, including demonstration of no double counting and relevance of a 2010 baseline survey

Credit Vintages