GS1247 VPA 52: Improved Cook Stoves in Chamanculo C, Maputo (Mozambique), phase II

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard cook-stove project in Maputo, Mozambique has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and recent monitoring (2023–2024), but is undermined by an extensive list of unresolved material findings covering baseline values, usage-rate calculation, and double-counting risk. Multiple contradictions between the 2016 verification report and the 2023 PDD on leakage, FNRB method, and usage assumptions reduce confidence in the data. The verified ERs (14,198 tCO₂e) are below the claimed figure (16,761 tCO₂e), which is conservative, but the 79% verified usage rate falls well short of the 90% assumed in the current PDD.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified usage rate of 79% is materially below the 90% assumed in the 2023 PDD, raising over-crediting risk if the assumed rate was used in ex-ante calculations
• ⚠Extensive list of unresolved material findings including baseline charcoal consumption errors, unexplained usage-rate calculation, and inability to identify stove IDs for double-counting prevention
• ⚠Leakage treatment is contradictory: the 2016 monitoring report applies a 0% deduction while the 2023 PDD specifies a 5% quantified deduction, and the justification shifts from 'deemed negligible' to 'quantified'
• ⚠No buffer pool is recorded, leaving no financial backstop against potential reversal if stoves are abandoned or replaced with traditional cooking

Credit Vintages