GS5658 VPA 9: Water is Life - Phase II, Madagascar

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard domestic energy-efficiency project in Madagascar (displacing thermal energy) with VVB-confirmed additionality but significant quality concerns: nine corrective action requests in the verification report, a project-specific baseline with no recorded reassessment date, and a claimed ERR that exceeds the lifetime ex-ante estimate. The project's safeguards documentation (FPIC, grievance mechanism) is positive, but the absence of verified ERR figures and multiple cross-document contradictions limit confidence in the credit claims.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Nine corrective action requests (CAR-1 through CAR-9) were raised in the 2023 verification report, indicating multiple unresolved or recently resolved compliance issues
• ⚠Total ERR claimed (50,617 tCO₂e) exceeds the lifetime ex-ante estimate (38,586 tCO₂e), suggesting potential over-crediting of approximately 31% above the pre-project projection
• ⚠Reversal risk is explicitly 'not addressed' in the extracted record and no buffer pool percentage is stated, leaving permanence unquantified
• ⚠The verification report references 'GS5658 VPA 7' while the project under review is 'VPA 9 – Phase II', raising a question about whether the correct VPA documentation was used

Credit Vintages Exhausted