*Improved Household Charcoal Stoves in Mali

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard improved cook-stove project in Mali has a sound additionality foundation (VVB-confirmed investment test) and conservative usage-rate assumptions, but is undermined by a two-year monitoring gap after the former developer withdrew, 21 corrective action requests across verifications, a forward action request flagging missing stove logos that creates a genuine double-counting risk, and multiple data contradictions across documents. The project over-delivered relative to its PDD estimate for the 2016–2017 monitoring period, which is positive for claim safety, but the operational and documentation weaknesses limit confidence in the overall credit quality.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Forward Action Request (2017 verification): stoves in use at end-user sites lacked the project 'Sewa logo/sticker', creating a risk of over-estimation or double counting of emission reductions in current and future monitoring periods.
• ⚠Former developer withdrew from carbon markets in 2014, causing a two-year gap in monitoring activities (2014–2016) before the 2016–2017 monitoring period resumed.
• ⚠21 Corrective Action Requests and 15 Clarification Requests were raised across verification cycles, indicating persistent data-quality and reporting deficiencies.
• ⚠CORSIA eligibility is confirmed while CCP status is not mentioned in any available document, leaving the dual-channel allocation question unresolved.

Credit Vintages