Up Energy Improved Cookstoves Programme, Uganda – CPA No 034 supported by Republic of Korea

Audit Analysis

The Up Energy cookstove project in Uganda demonstrates a solid additionality assessment (combined test, VVB-verified) and reasonable leakage treatment (5% deduction), but carries notable permanence risk due to the absence of any documented buffer pool or reversal mechanism for a project type where stoves can break or be abandoned. A significant discrepancy in claimed emission reductions (113,098 vs 600,815 tCO₂e) between the appendix and monitoring report, combined with the absence of any verified ERR figure, undermines confidence in the credit quantity. The project is adequately safeguarded (FPIC, grievance mechanism) but the documentation record contains six contradictions that reduce overall reliability.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠No buffer pool or reversal mechanism documented despite inherent permanence risk in a cookstove project where units can break, be abandoned, or users revert to traditional cooking
• ⚠Major discrepancy in ERR figures: the appendix (Nov 2024) reports 113,098 tCO₂e while the monitoring report (Dec 2022) reports 600,815 tCO₂e — a 5.3× difference that is unexplained
• ⚠No verified ERR figure is available in the extracted record, making it impossible to confirm actual delivery against the ex-ante estimate
• ⚠Usage monitoring methodology is inconsistent: the verification report describes an annual survey while the 2025 validation report describes self-reporting
• ⚠Leakage justification is contradictory: the verification report states it was not addressed, while the monitoring report indicates it was quantified (consistent with the 5% deduction)

Credit Vintages Exhausted