Up Energy Improved Cookstoves Programme, Uganda – CPA No 035 supported by Republic of Korea

Audit Analysis

The Up Energy Improved Cookstoves project in Uganda has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by a 5.3× discrepancy between the verified emissions reduction (600,815 tCO₂e, 2022 monitoring) and the lifetime ex-ante estimate (113,098 tCO₂e, 2024 appendix), the absence of any stated buffer pool for a project with inherent stove-abandonment risk, and multiple material findings including a methodology citation error and a double-counting check requirement. Several key MRV parameters (FNRB method, usage-monitoring approach) are contradictory across documents, weakening confidence in the underlying data.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified emissions reduction of 600,815 tCO₂e (2022 monitoring report) is 5.3× the entire lifetime ex-ante estimate of 113,098 tCO₂e (2024 appendix); although the monitoring period falls under the earlier crediting period (2021–2026) rather than the current one (2024–2029), the magnitude of the gap demands a clear explanation of the scope change or data error.
• ⚠Seven material findings in the verification report include a methodology paragraph that could not be located in AMS-II.G. v12, a missing SDG/Safeguarding assessment, and a requirement to cross-check ICS databases to avoid double counting with an existing project.
• ⚠FNRB method is reported as 'national_default' in the 2022 verification report but 'local_field' in the 2025 validation report; the 2025 value is privileged as more recent, but the inconsistency undermines MRV reliability.

Credit Vintages Exhausted