SMG - Cookstove Program 1

Audit Analysis

The SMG Cookstove Program 1 project has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by a 10-fold discrepancy between the assumed usage rate (10%) and the verified rate (100%), six material findings flagging calculation errors in the monitoring report, and a 2.25× over-delivery relative to the ex-ante estimate. The project-specific baseline, absence of buffer pool and reversal data, and multiple inter-document contradictions reduce confidence in the integrity and reliability of the verified emission reduction figures.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Usage rate assumed at 10% in the PDD but verified at 100% in the monitoring report — a 10× discrepancy that, combined with material findings about incorrect parameter presentation, raises serious over-crediting risk
• ⚠Six material findings in the 2024 verification report, including incorrect presentation of operational stove counts, a leap-year calculation error, and ambiguity on the 10% loss rate application period
• ⚠Verified ERR of 106,477 tCO₂e is 2.25× the ex-ante estimate of 47,370 tCO₂e in the PDD, suggesting either a fundamentally different calculation basis or a significant error in one of the two figures
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or reversal event data found in any available document, leaving permanence risk unquantified for a cookstove project
• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory: the 2023 verification report states it was not conducted, while the 2024 monitoring report states it was conducted

Credit Vintages