Market reaction to study of cookstove projects revealing over-crediting

A study published by researchers at the University of California Berkeley, which exposes significant over-crediting issues in cookstove offset projects, revealed inflated estimates in stove adoption and usage. We take a look at the impact of these results, finding that they have contributed to the existing trend of declining prices across the market. However, companies continue to show “demand” for credits from cookstove projects: the rate at which they are retiring them from registries (the act of “using” them to offset emissions or fulfil a carbon reduction claim) increased by 24% from 2022 to 2023.