Safe Water Programme – Nigeria - VPA 91

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard safe water and cookstove VPA project in Nigeria has VVB-verified additionality and a stated MRV framework, but sits at the validation stage with six unresolved corrective actions, a thin 0% leakage justification, no stated buffer pool or permanence mechanism, and FPIC not conducted. Multiple contradictions between the PDD and validation report (fNRB method, crediting period, additionality test type) reduce confidence in the underlying data. The project has not yet entered its crediting period, so no verified emissions reductions are available to assess over- or under-delivery.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Six corrective actions remain open at validation, including justification of the fNRB calculation method (older Tool 30 version) and clarification of baseline parameter data sources
• ⚠FPIC was not conducted, yet Gold Standard requires free, prior and informed consent; the safeguarding principles assessment itself was flagged for update (CAR#01)
• ⚠0% leakage deduction justified only as 'deemed negligible' with no quantified assessment, which is thin for a project distributing water infrastructure and cookstoves where diversion or substitution is plausible
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or permanence mechanism is stated in any available document, leaving reversal risk unaddressed
• ⚠Contradictions between the PDD and validation report on fNRB method (national default vs local field) and crediting period start date (June vs August 2024) indicate unresolved data inconsistencies

Credit Vintages