GS1729 Myanmar Stoves Campaign - Soneva in Myanmar - VPA No. 013

Audit Analysis

The Myanmar Stoves Campaign is a Gold Standard cookstove project with reasonable leakage treatment and over-delivery relative to its ex-ante estimate, but it is undermined by a critical additionality verification gap, the absence of any permanence mechanism, 22 corrective actions flagged by the VVB, and six data contradictions across documents. The project's claims are broadly conservative, yet the integrity and documentation weaknesses limit confidence in the underlying methodology.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Additionality was not confirmed by the VVB in the 2024 verification report, directly contradicting the 2023 validation report that recorded it as verified
• ⚠22 corrective actions were required in the verification report, spanning calculation errors, missing evidence, and stakeholder-consultation gaps
• ⚠No buffer pool or permanence mechanism is stated for a cookstove project where hardware failure and replacement create reversal risk
• ⚠FPIC was not conducted despite the project targeting vulnerable households in Myanmar
• ⚠Usage rate was assumed at 100% in the ex-ante estimate but verified at only 87.5%, a 12.5% over-estimation

Credit Vintages