VPA 90 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard cookstove VPA in Bangladesh has a VVB-confirmed additionality assessment and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by a striking discrepancy between the ex-ante lifetime estimate (49,146 tCO₂e) and the verified annual ERR (523,571 tCO₂e), a contradictory FPIC record, the absence of any stated buffer pool, and a heavy load of corrective actions and cross-document inconsistencies that erode confidence in the data chain.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified ERR of 523,571 tCO₂e for a single monitoring year is approximately 53× the pro-rata ex-ante expectation of ~9,829 tCO₂e (49,146 lifetime ÷ 5-year crediting period), raising serious over-crediting or data-extraction concerns
• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory: the 2024 verification report records it as not conducted, while the 2023 validation report records it as conducted
• ⚠18 or more corrective actions were required across the verification and validation processes, including unresolved questions on stakeholder consultation, grievance mechanism implementation, and double-counting prevention for stove serial numbers
• ⚠The PDD lists a 28-year crediting period (2014–2042) while the validation report specifies 5 years (2021–2026); the 28-year figure was challenged against the Gold Standard 20-year maximum and justified via transition rules, but the discrepancy remains unresolved in the record

Credit Vintages