GS7591 VPA 33 Zambian Central Province Safe Water

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard water-borehole rehabilitation project in Zambia has confirmed additionality and no reversal events, but is undermined by extensive operational failures (77% water-quality pass rate, multiple collapsed or dried-up boreholes, high mechanical failure rates) and a 0% leakage deduction that is contradicted by an earlier 5% figure in the validation report. The ERR figures are internally consistent for the latest monitoring period (claimed = verified = 30,708 tCO₂e), but the absence of a lifetime ex-ante estimate and contradictions across documents limit confidence in the long-term claim.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠23% of boreholes failed water-quality testing in the latest monitoring period, directly threatening the delivery of safe-water access that underpins the ER claim
• ⚠Multiple boreholes reported as collapsed, dried up, or with low water levels (e.g., MUM02234 with 161 down days in 2024), indicating the physical infrastructure is degrading
• ⚠Leakage deduction of 0% with a 'deemed negligible' justification is contradicted by a 5% deduction in the 2025 validation report, and no buffer pool is stated
• ⚠Several corrective actions are explicitly marked as 'ineffective' (MR template adherence, parameter consistency, SDG impact calculation), suggesting systemic MRV weaknesses
• ⚠fNRB method changed between documents from national default (0.74) to local field (0.86), a 16% increase in the reduction factor that inflates ERs

Credit Vintages