GS11935 GS11934 RVPA-59 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 100% usage-rate assumption, a project-specific baseline, an unresolved FPIC contradiction, and a five-fold discrepancy in claimed emission reductions between the PDD and the validation report. The low extraction confidence and absence of any monitoring data further limit confidence in the project's claims.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC contradiction: the most recent validation report (Sep 2024) states FPIC was NOT conducted, while an earlier validation report (Nov 2023) states it was — a critical safeguard gap for a community cookstove project
• ⚠Five-fold discrepancy in total ERR: the PDD (Sep 2024) reports 9,466 tCO₂e while the validation report (Sep 2024) reports 47,333 tCO₂e; the validation report value is privileged as the more recent and higher-priority document, but the gap signals data-reliability concerns
• ⚠100% usage rate assumed with no verified usage data — an aggressive assumption for household cookstove adoption in rural Nepal
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage stated and no reversal-event data found in any available document, leaving permanence risk unquantified for a 5-year crediting period
• ⚠FAR count inconsistency within the validation report: the summary states 0 Forward Action Requests raised, yet six individual FARs (FAR 1–6) are listed in the material findings

Credit Vintages