VPA 74 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard improved cookstove project in Bangladesh with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by a project-specific baseline, absence of a buffer pool over a 15-year crediting period, a contradictory FPIC record, and an extensive list of corrective actions that signal documentation quality issues. The verified usage rate (0.98) exceeds the assumed rate (0.90), suggesting conservative crediting, but the lack of a lifetime ex-ante estimate prevents a full pro-rata delivery check.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory: the 2024 verification report states FPIC was not conducted, while the 2023 validation report states it was — a fundamental safeguards gap if the more recent record is correct
• ⚠Leakage deduction differs by a factor of 100 between the 2023 monitoring report (0.05%) and the 2024 verification report (5%), raising questions about which figure was actually applied in credit issuance
• ⚠18+ corrective actions were required across the verification cycle, including unresolved items on stakeholder consultation, grievance mechanism implementation, and double-counting prevention for stove serial numbers
• ⚠Additionality verification status flipped between the 2023 and 2024 verification reports (not verified → verified), indicating the 2023 period may have had unresolved additionality concerns

Credit Vintages