GS1247 VPA 232 Sierra Leone Safe Water

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard safe-water/thermal-energy-displacement project in Sierra Leone has VVB-confirmed additionality and documented safeguards, but suffers from a critical absence of verified ERR figures, a 0% leakage deduction with contradictory justification, no buffer pool, and ten cross-document contradictions that undermine data reliability. The extensive list of open corrective actions and follow-up items signals ongoing compliance gaps that have not been fully resolved.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified ERR figure is entirely absent from the extracted record, making it impossible to confirm whether claimed reductions (86,933 tCO2e for the 2023–2024 monitoring period) are supported by independent measurement.
• ⚠Leakage deduction is 0% in the monitoring report while the PDD originally specified 5%, and the justification is contradictory ('quantified' in the verification report vs 'deemed negligible' in the monitoring report).
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage is stated, and the verification report marks reversal events as 'not addressed' despite the project relying on installed technology that could be replaced or abandoned.
• ⚠Ten contradictions across documents (leakage, ERR, fNRB, usage rate, additionality test type, crediting period, benefit sharing, reversal events, fNRB method) indicate significant data-reliability issues.
• ⚠Five follow-up actions (FAR 01–05) remain open, including the requirement to submit an fNRB report at VPA level and to justify monitoring options.

Credit Vintages