June 1, 2026, Bethesda, Maryland, USA – The Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF; cieif.org) is pleased to announce completion of its fifth round of $75,000 grants towards environmental impact analysis for climate restoration projects. The three new grantees:
Carbizon (www.uantwerpen.be/en/staff/harun-niron_23841/research/ ) is a Belgian startup project based at the University of Antwerp. It proposes a high-intensity enhanced rock weathering (ERW) two-year field test in Muranga’a County in central Kenya. The project, to be carried out on a test farm, will integrate crushed basalt with biochar and organic matter to create a functional soil building system while simultaneously quantifying durable inorganic carbon removal through accelerated silicate weathering. Unlike conventional ERW approaches that apply relatively small quantities of silicate rock to existing cropland, Carbizon’s approach applies the mineral feedstocks at much higher intensities, thus testing ERW not as a marginal soil amendment but as the primary soil building and carbon removal mechanism. CIEIF’s funding will support a detailed environmental impact assessment of this technique utilizing independent consultants, as well as supporting impact modeling and a Life Cycle Assessment by Carbizon’s team. It also will support stakeholder outreach, engaging closely with Kenyan farming organizations.
Hourglass Climate (hourglassclimate.org) is a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to independent science for the responsible development of marine carbon dioxide removal. CIEIF’s grant will aid Hourglass’s development of a potential field test to evaluate the carbon removal efficiency and environmental safety of mineral-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) in New Zealand. The project would involve the nearshore release of approximately 2,000 tons of finely ground, locally-sourced rock. The mineral particles would dissolve, increasing seawater alkalinity and thereby enhancing the ocean’s capacity to absorb atmospheric CO₂ through air–sea gas exchange. The field test would provide stakeholders with transparent, accessible information about the safety and efficacy of nearshore OAE as well as generate the critical empirical data needed to advance novel measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) techniques and inform the potential for scaling this technology. CIEIF’s funding will primarily support ecotoxicological testing of potential impacts on culturally and commercially important marine species, as well as extensive outreach and engagement with New Zealand stakeholders which is critical for assessing the overall viability of, and next steps for, the proposed trial.
Institute for Glacier Stewardship (IFGS; www.icepreservation.org), is a U.S. based nonprofit group focused on potential interventions in glaciers aimed at slowing their global warming-driven melting and the resulting sea level rise. The ultimate goal, several years at least away, will be Antarctica’s glaciers, but IFGS first proposes undertaking a pilot before scaling to the harshest environment on Earth. Yakutat, Alaska is that pilot. The marine-terminating Hubbard-Valerie Glacier System right now faces warm ocean water, increased meltwater flux, and accelerating retreat. It provides a glimpse into the climate conditions that higher-latitude systems will face in the coming decades, but at a scale where instrumentation, iteration, and community partnership are immediately feasible. Funding provided by CIEIF will support an independent environmental impact assessment of the proposed basal anchoring intervention — the removing of subglacial water to increase basal friction and slow glacier flow. It also will help IFGS pay for equipment, travel, and site inspection needs. Plus, the grant will support outreach workshops with local indigenous groups.
This round further shows the diversity of CIEIF’s funding support as far as the technologies deployed and the proposed field test locations. The latter range from an Alaskan glacier to New Zealand’s coastal waters to a Kenyan test farm.
CIEIF’s decision-making trio consists of Peter Jenkins, Fund Manager; Renaud de Richter, PhD., Science Advisor; and John Fitzgerald, Legal Advisor. They narrowed numerous applications down based on several factors, including their clarity and their long-term potential for climate benefits. All grantees will publish their impact-related results either in a peer-reviewed journal or as a publicly available report with independent peer review.
More details about all three projects will be made available at cieif.org/current-grants.
CIEIF also is announcing another round of three grants with award amounts of $75,000 each. The deadline for applications is December 1, 2026. Innovative climate intervention projects worldwide in need of funding for focused environmental impact assessment, impact modeling, and/or public-stakeholder outreach are encouraged to apply. Details of the eligibility requirements are at: cieif.org/what-we-do and cieif.org/guidelines-for-grant-applicants/.
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