VPA 73 - 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 combined additionality test and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by a striking 53× discrepancy between the ex-ante lifetime estimate and the verified annual figure, a project-specific baseline with no stated reassessment, absence of FPIC, and numerous corrective actions across multiple documents. The project is CCP-eligible but CORSIA status is not stated, and several key fields (buffer pool, reversal events, baseline reassessment date) are not found in the extracted record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified ERR of 523,571 tCO2e for a single monitoring year is approximately 53× the pro-rata expectation of ~9,829 tCO2e derived from the 49,146 tCO2e lifetime ex-ante estimate over a 5-year crediting period — a discrepancy that suggests a unit mismatch, cumulative reporting, or a fundamental error in one of the figures
• ⚠Additionality verification status is contradictory: the 2023 verification report records it as not verified, while the 2024 verification report records it as verified — the basis for the change is not explained in the extracted record
• ⚠FPIC is recorded as not conducted in the 2024 verification report, contradicting the 2023 validation report which records it as conducted; the more recent and authoritative verification report is privileged
• ⚠16 corrective actions were required across the verification and monitoring cycle, including unresolved questions about stakeholder consultation, grievance mechanism implementation at branch offices, and SDG Impact Tool completeness
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage, no reversal event record, and no baseline reassessment date are found in any available document

Credit Vintages