VPA 77 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard cookstove project in Bangladesh with VVB-verified additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but weakened by the absence of a buffer pool, a project-specific baseline with no recorded reassessment, and a 2024 verification report confirming FPIC was not conducted. Multiple contradictions across documents—particularly on FPIC status, leakage magnitude, and crediting period length—reduce confidence in the consistency of the project record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC was not conducted per the 2024 verification report, contradicting the 2023 validation report which stated it was done; this is a material safeguard gap for a household-level cookstove project
• ⚠No buffer pool or permanence mechanism is stated in any available document, leaving reversal risk (stove breakdown, replacement with traditional stoves) unmitigated
• ⚠Leakage deduction appears as 5% in the 2024 verification report but 0.05% in the 2023 monitoring report—a 100-fold discrepancy that, even if attributable to fraction-vs-percentage notation, signals documentation inconsistency
• ⚠Crediting period is stated as 15 years (2024 monitoring report) versus 5 years (2022 validation report); the CAR notes the PoA duration of 28 years was challenged against the GS 20-year maximum and justified via transition rules, but the VPA-level period remains unclear
• ⚠18+ corrective actions were required across verification and validation, including substantive items such as verifying stove efficiency >20%, substantiating credit-transfer ownership, and confirming unique serial-number tracking to prevent double counting

Credit Vintages