GS1247 VPA 266 - Burkina Faso Safe Water

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard safe-water project in Burkina Faso has confirmed additionality and no reversal events, but is undermined by an extraordinary volume of material findings (over 50), a major discrepancy between the monitoring report (4,744 tCO₂e) and the verification report (53,562 tCO₂e), a leakage deduction reduced from 5% to 0% with only a 'deemed negligible' justification, and ongoing security disruptions that have degraded monitoring quality. The project's data reliability is significantly compromised.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Over 50 material findings and corrective actions logged across verification and monitoring reports, including multiple ER calculation errors, inconsistent borehole counts (182 vs 156), and incorrect crediting-period start dates
• ⚠Massive discrepancy in verified ERR: monitoring report (2025-03-20) reports 4,744 tCO₂e while the verification report (2025-03-30) reports 53,562 tCO₂e — an 11-fold difference that is not adequately explained
• ⚠Leakage deduction reduced from 5% in the PDD (2023) to 0% in the 2025 verification report with only a 'deemed negligible' justification, despite the project-specific baseline and the risk of users reverting to unsafe water sources
• ⚠Ongoing terrorist attacks, internal displacement, and roadblocks in the project area have reduced water-quality testing frequency and monitoring access, with deviations approved by Gold Standard

Credit Vintages