Summary
The Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF) is a highly specialised U.S. philanthropic fund affiliated with Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. The foundation's exclusive objective is to foster the responsible development of climate intervention technologies globally.
Rather than financing basic laboratory research, technology development, or large-scale implementation, CIEIF strictly provides supplemental funding to examine the potential consequences of field trials before and during execution. It finances the independent environmental, social, and regulatory legwork required to give early-stage technologies a responsible pathway to real-world testing.
Core Program: CIEIF Field Test Impact Grants
The fund provides targeted grants to help global investigators manage and assess the impacts of small-scale field tests.
| Detail | Specifications |
|---|
| Funding Amount | $75,000 USD per award |
| Grants Per Cycle | Typically 3 grants awarded per biannual round (approx. 6 per year) |
| Duration & Structure | Provided in tranches linked to negotiated project benchmarks (1/3 disbursed upfront). Repeat annual funding is possible. |
| Core Supported Activities | • Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)
• Predictive environmental and social impact modeling
• Stakeholder, community, and indigenous consultation
• Government regulatory and permit acquisition |
Eligible vs. Ineligible Technologies
CIEIF explicitly prioritises innovative climate restoration technologies that can scale to a global, climate-relevant level but are currently stuck on the verge of limited real-world testing.
- Eligible Interventions: Enhanced weathering (soil/land), ocean fertilisation, biochar deployment, marine cloud brightening, ice and land albedo modifications, livestock methane capture, and atmospheric methane removal.
- Explicitly Ineligible Interventions: Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI/solar radiation management), conventional Direct Air Capture (DAC), and traditional Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) are excluded due to the availability of other large-scale funding pipelines.
Eligibility Criteria
To match with this funder on the UNIMA portal, project teams must fulfil the following:
- Institutional Status: Open to qualified investigators worldwide. Priority is given to non-profit and academic institutions (such as UNIMA research groups), though private businesses planning field trials may be considered. Individuals and student projects are not eligible.
- Technical Readiness: The underlying technology must be sufficiently mature, backed by prior peer-reviewed feasibility research, and actively approaching its small-scale field test.
- Co-Funding Requirement: Applicants must already have secured primary funding for the basic research, equipment, or implementation of the field test itself. CIEIF funds are strictly supplemental.
- Publication Commitment: A key selection criterion is an absolute commitment to publish EIA results and field trial outcomes in peer-reviewed journals or independently reviewed open gray literature.
Application Cycle & Process
- Next Deadline: December 1, 2026.
- Submission Format: There is no standard application form. Proposals must be written in English, must not exceed 20 pages (excluding biosketches), and must explicitly detail prior research, required government permits, scalable potential, and a budget for the $75,000.
- Mandatory Pre-Screening: Applicants are required to contact Fund Manager Peter T. Jenkins at info@CIEIF.org to discuss project scoping before sending a completed application.
Official Channels & Verification
