Núcleos Carbono

Audit Analysis

The Núcleos Carbono project is a Colombian forestry (Pinus/Cupressus) AFOLU project verified by ONAC-accredited ICONTEC, with a 15% buffer pool and VVB-confirmed additionality. However, the verification report flagged six material findings (all remediated), a reversal event for non-permanence risk, and contradictory leakage justifications across documents, while the low extraction confidence and several missing data fields limit assurance. The project is functional but carries moderate integrity and claim-safety risks typical of project-specific baselines in a non-international registry.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verification report (Oct 2024) reports a reversal event (22,385 tCO2e / 15% non-permanence deduction) while the monitoring report (Oct 2024) states no reversal events were reported — the two documents directly contradict each other on permanence risk.
• ⚠Leakage justification is inconsistent: the monitoring report (Oct 2024) states leakage is 'deemed negligible' with a 0% deduction, while the issuance document (Dec 2024) characterises it as 'quantified' — the basis for the 0% deduction is unclear.
• ⚠Six material findings (5 significant, 1 serious) were identified by the VVB, including unclear geographical boundaries, unproven land eligibility, missing methodology reference, and an unestablished monitoring database at the time of audit.
• ⚠Field observations in the verification report record dead trees, parcels outside project limits, and multiple DAP measurement errors, raising concerns about inventory accuracy.
• ⚠Minimum extraction confidence is rated 'low', indicating at least one key document was poorly readable, reducing overall data reliability.

Credit Vintages