VPA 173 EcoZoom Improved Stove Programme, Uganda

Audit Analysis

The EcoZoom improved cookstove programme in Uganda has VVB-verified additionality and no reversal events, but is undermined by a 24% gap between assumed and verified usage rates, a leakage deduction that dropped from 5% in the PDD to 0% in the latest verification, a stove lifetime revision from 5 to 7 years, and an extensive list of unresolved corrective actions. Multiple contradictions across documents—particularly on FPIC status, fNRB method, and crediting period—raise data reliability concerns that limit confidence in the claimed emission reductions.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Usage rate assumed at 0.90 but verified at only 0.6836 in the 2026 verification report—a 24% shortfall that directly inflates claimed reductions relative to actual performance
• ⚠Leakage deduction reduced from 5% in the 2023 PDD to 0% in the 2026 verification report, with justification shifting from 'deemed negligible' to 'quantified' without clear methodological explanation
• ⚠Stove lifetime revised from 5 to 7 years mid-programme, with the verification report noting this was 'approved by Gold Standard'—a material change to the ex-ante credit calculation
• ⚠Monitoring period (ending 30 June 2025) extends beyond the stated crediting period (ending 30 January 2025), creating an unexplained overlap
• ⚠FPIC status contradicts between the 2022 verification report (not conducted) and the 2025 validation report (conducted), with no reconciliation

Credit Vintages