GS1247 VPA 90 Southern Ethiopia Efficient Cook Stoves

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard cook-stove project in Southern Ethiopia with VVB-confirmed additionality, no reversal events, and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by a project-specific baseline, the absence of a buffer pool, 185 non-functional stoves identified during verification, and a large volume of material findings and corrective actions that signal ongoing data-quality issues. The fNRB was revised downward from 0.93 to 0.83 between the 2024 and 2026 verification reports, suggesting the earlier period may have been slightly over-credited.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠185 non-functional stoves identified during the May 2025 maintenance campaign while the survey reported 100% usage, creating a direct contradiction in the usage-rate evidence
• ⚠fNRB value changed from 0.93 (local field, 2024 verification) to 0.83 (national default, 2026 verification), indicating the earlier crediting period may have used an inflated non-renewable burden factor
• ⚠No buffer pool is in place despite the energy-efficiency nature of the project where stove breakage and replacement create a tangible reversal risk
• ⚠20 corrective actions and 25+ material findings were raised in the 2026 verification, including transcription errors, formula errors, and inconsistent monitoring-period numbering, pointing to weak internal quality control
• ⚠The monitoring report initially combined five VPAs with differing monitoring periods into a single document, a structural transparency deficiency

Credit Vintages