VPA 99 - GHG Emission Reduction through use of Bondhu Chula (Improved Cook Stoves) in Bangladesh

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard cookstove project in Bangladesh has a verified combined additionality test and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but is undermined by the absence of a buffer pool over a 15-year crediting period, a project-specific baseline, and a contradictory FPIC record. The extensive list of corrective actions and multiple cross-document contradictions (particularly on FPIC, leakage, and FNRB method) erode confidence in the data chain. Overall, the project is moderately sound but carries meaningful documentation and safeguards gaps.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC status is directly contradictory: the 2024 verification report states it was not conducted, while the 2023 validation report states it was — a fundamental safeguards gap that cannot be resolved without further evidence.
• ⚠The 2024 verification report lists 17+ corrective actions and 5 material findings, including a challenged 28-year PoA duration against the Gold Standard 20-year maximum, indicating the project design documentation has not been fully reconciled.
• ⚠Leakage deduction is reported as 5% in the 2024 verification report but as 0.95 in the 2023 monitoring report; the units are ambiguous (percentage vs. factor) and the discrepancy is unexplained.

Credit Vintages