VPA 64 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard cookstove project in Bangladesh with a VVB-verified combined additionality test and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but weakened by a project-specific baseline, absence of a buffer pool, FPIC not conducted per the 2024 verification report, and a substantial list of corrective actions. The verified usage rate (98.3%) exceeding the assumed rate (90%) is a positive signal, yet the identical claimed and verified ERR figures and multiple cross-document contradictions reduce confidence in the robustness of the credit claims.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC was not conducted per the 2024 verification report, contradicting the 2023 validation report which recorded it as completed — a material safeguard gap for a project targeting low-income households in Bangladesh
• ⚠The PoA duration of 28 years was challenged against the Gold Standard 20-year maximum and only justified via transition rules (CAR 02), creating regulatory uncertainty for the full crediting period
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage is stated in any available document, leaving no explicit financial backstop against potential reversal or under-delivery
• ⚠Sixteen or more corrective actions and comments were raised by the VVB and Gold Standard, including missing major-changes documentation, stakeholder consultation gaps, and formatting inconsistencies in the monitoring report
• ⚠The FNRB method is recorded as 'national default' in the 2024 verification report but 'local field' in the 2023 validation report, creating ambiguity about which emission factor basis underpins the credit calculation

Credit Vintages