Viet Nam Improved Cookstove Project by KCM – Improved Cookstove Project in Phu Tho Province – CPA 003

Audit Analysis

This improved cookstove project in Phu Tho Province, Vietnam, passed VCS verification with additionality confirmed and a 5% quantified leakage deduction, but is undermined by an extensive list of material findings including unaccounted gap days for replaced stoves, a thermal efficiency initially described as 'projected' rather than measured, a missing ICS distribution database, and a significant discrepancy between claimed (77,862) and verified (46,134) emission reduction figures. Multiple contradictions across documents on FPIC status, FNRB method, and benefit-sharing further erode confidence in the data integrity.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Emission reduction figures differ by 41% between documents: 77,862 tCO2e in the earlier verification report versus 46,134 tCO2e in the monitoring report and later verification, raising over-claiming concerns
• ⚠Gap days for replaced stoves were not accounted for in ER calculations, inflating verified reductions
• ⚠Thermal efficiency of the 4G ICS was initially described as 'projected' rather than measured or tested, undermining the physical basis of the credit calculation
• ⚠The ICS distribution database was not submitted as supporting documentation and was absent from the ERR spreadsheet
• ⚠The same VVB team recorded onsite verification visits for two different project activities (VCS-2490 and VCS-2491) on the same date (3 August 2023), raising independence and thoroughness concerns

Credit Vintages