VPA 23 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard cookstove project in Bangladesh has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and a conservative national-default fNRB, but is undermined by an extensive list of roughly 30 material findings, significant ERR figure contradictions between verification reports, a 6.6% gap between assumed and verified usage rates, and the absence of any buffer pool or stated permanence mechanism. The documentation quality is poor, with numerous data inconsistencies, missing calculations, and unresolved corrective actions, raising meaningful concerns about the reliability of the verified emission reductions.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified ERR dropped from 350,831 (June 2023 verification report) to 262,185 (October 2023 verification report) — a 25% reduction between two verification reports in the same year, with no clear explanation in the extracted record
• ⚠Approximately 30 material findings and 25 corrective actions identified by TÜV NORD CERT, including unit inconsistencies, missing sample calculations, missing spreadsheet references, and data transfer errors across the monitoring report and ER worksheet
• ⚠Usage rate assumed at 0.99 but verified at only 0.93 — a 6.6% overestimation that inflates claimed reductions
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or permanence mechanism found in any available document, leaving reversal risk unaddressed for a project where stoves have a finite 5–7 year lifespan
• ⚠Leakage deduction of only 0.95% per the verification report, while the monitoring report (October 2023) lists 5% and characterises leakage as 'not addressed' — a five-fold discrepancy

Credit Vintages