VPA 48 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard improved cookstove VPA in Bangladesh with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but weakened by the absence of FPIC (per the 2024 verification report), a project-specific baseline with no recorded reassessment, and multiple cross-document contradictions on ERR figures, crediting period, and safeguards. The verified usage rate (98.3%) exceeding the assumed rate (90%) is a positive signal of conservative crediting, yet the lack of a lifetime ex-ante ERR figure prevents a full pro-rata delivery check.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC recorded as not conducted in the 2024 verification report, contradicting the 2023 validation report which stated it was conducted — a material safeguards gap for a household-level cookstove project
• ⚠Crediting period discrepancy: the 2022 validation report shows a 5-year period (2021–2026) while the 2024 monitoring report shows 15 years (2021–2036); the CAR notes a 28-year PoA duration challenged against the GS 20-year maximum, resolved via transition rules, but the VPA-level period remains unclear
• ⚠ERR figures differ between the 2023 monitoring report (352,957 tCO₂e) and the 2024 verification report (523,571 tCO₂e); without a lifetime ex-ante estimate the pro-rata delivery ratio cannot be independently verified
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or permanence mechanism is stated in any available document, leaving reversal risk unquantified

Credit Vintages