Up Energy Improved Cookstoves Programme, Uganda – CPA No 037 supported by Republic of Korea

Audit Analysis

The Up Energy Improved Cookstoves project in Uganda demonstrates solid additionality (VVB-confirmed combined test) and quantified leakage (5% deduction), with FPIC and grievance mechanisms in place. However, permanence is a notable weakness — no buffer pool is stated and reversal events are not addressed — and the absence of verified ERR figures, end-use tracking, and an LCA for an energy-efficiency project creates meaningful evidence gaps. Multiple contradictions across documents, particularly in ERR totals and leakage treatment, reduce confidence in the data record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠No buffer pool percentage is stated in any available document, and reversal events are explicitly 'not addressed' — a significant permanence gap for a cookstove project where stoves can be replaced, broken, or repurposed.
• ⚠The monitoring report (Dec 2022) reports a total ERR claimed of 600,815 tCO2e, while the 2024 appendix states 113,098 tCO2e as both the ex-ante lifetime and claimed figure — a roughly 5× discrepancy that is not reconciled in the available record.
• ⚠Total ERR verified is not found in any extracted document, meaning there is no independently verified emission reduction figure to benchmark against the claimed value.
• ⚠No LCA or carbon content testing is documented for an energy-efficiency cookstove project, leaving the full lifecycle emissions profile unassessed.

Credit Vintages Exhausted