GS2404 International Water Purification Programme - CPA 4 Water Kiosks in Cambodia

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard water purification project in Cambodia has a VVB-confirmed additionality assessment and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by an extensive list of material findings, 25+ corrective actions, and numerous cross-document contradictions in key parameters (kiosk counts, water quality values, grid emission factors, and non-renewable fraction values). Usage monitoring relies on assumed rather than measured values, and no buffer pool is in place, leaving the project's data integrity and claim robustness significantly below standard.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠15+ material findings and 25+ corrective actions identified across verification and monitoring reports, including kiosk count discrepancies (148 vs 173), water quality value errors (98% vs 95%), and monitoring frequency inconsistencies
• ⚠Grid emission factor contradicts between documents: 0.3089 tCO2/kWh (validation report, 2025-09) vs 0.6568 tCO2/kWh (verification report, 2025-01) — a factor-of-two difference that directly affects ER calculations
• ⚠Non-renewable fraction (fnrb) contradicts: 0.76 (verification report) vs 0.5203 (monitoring report), and the method is stated as both 'national_default' and 'local_field' across documents
• ⚠Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) was not conducted despite the project serving communities across 19 provinces in Cambodia

Credit Vintages