Installation of high efficiency wood burning cookstoves in Laos

Audit Analysis

This VCS cookstove project in Laos has a verified additionality test and no reversal events, but is severely undermined by an excess VCU issuance of 5,281 credits, a Verra denial of a project request, multiple fNRB transparency failures, and a massive discrepancy between claimed and verified emission reductions (the project delivered roughly 5–25% of the pro-rata expectation). Thirteen cross-document contradictions and numerous material findings about missing data further erode confidence in the project's integrity and claim accuracy.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠5,281 VCUs were issued in excess of the correct amount; the project proponent compensated through cancellation, but the over-issuance is a clear integrity failure.
• ⚠Verra denied a project request because the VVB failed to respond within 60 days of the review report, indicating a breakdown in the verification chain.
• ⚠The fNRB value (0.93 vs 0.83) is contradicted across two verification reports and flagged as 'not transparent' in material findings, with multiple corrective actions still outstanding.
• ⚠Verified ERR (83,503 or 5,281) is only 0.4%–25% of the claimed ERR (1,474,163) for the monitoring period, indicating a severe over-claiming risk.
• ⚠Thirteen contradictions across documents, including leakage deduction (0% vs 5%), usage rate (0.9455 vs 99.16%), additionality test type (combined vs activity), and crediting period dates.

Credit Vintages