CIEIF Makes First Round of Grants and Announces Increased Grant Amounts and Date for 2024 Applications
[Bethesda, Maryland, USA — December 20, 2023] The Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF; https://cieif.org/) is pleased to announce its first round of three $50,000 grants towards environmental impact analysis for climate restoration projects. The inaugural grantees are:
Arctic Reflections, bv – a Dutch start-up aimed at restoring Arctic ice.
Captura Corp. – an American ocean carbon capture company.
International Biochar Initiative – a global non-profit association working to scale biochar as a viable climate change solution and carbon removal technology.
CIEIF’s decision making team consisted of Peter Jenkins, Fund Manager; Renaud de Richter, Science Advisor; and John Fitzgerald, Legal Advisor. They narrowed numerous applications down to three based on several factors, including the clarity of the applications, their long-term potential for climate-relevant beneficial impacts, and the applicants’ commitment to publishing the results of their environmental impact analyses. All grantees will publish their impact-related results either in a peer-reviewed journal or as a publicly available report with independent peer review. One of CIEIF’s primary goals is to add to the body of knowledge about the potential risks and benefits of various climate interventions.
Arctic Reflections (AR, arcticreflections.earth) seeks to counter Arctic sea ice loss employing a technique known as ice thickening. The thickness of existing ice is increased during winter months by pumping seawater onto the surface. Thicker ice is expected to last longer during the following summer months and increase solar radiation reflection, thereby reducing warming. CIEIF’s funding will assist AR in conducting a full assessment of impacts of an initial small-scale field test slated for the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in early 2024, as well as retaining a consulting firm for predicting impacts of the technique at potential test sites in Nunavut, Canada.
Captura (capturacorp.com) has innovated an electrochemical technology for low-cost and scalable Direct Ocean Capture (DOC), which removes CO2 directly from seawater. The CO2-depleted seawater then is returned to the ocean with the regenerated capacity to absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere. Captura’s long-term goal is to remove CO2 at gigaton scale by leveraging the ocean’s natural ability to absorb and store atmospheric CO2. CIEIF’s funding will support a holistic assessment, employing independent experts, of the potential biological and ecosystem impacts of the discharge plume from Captura’s 100-ton pilot operation located at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California.
International Biochar Initiative (IBI, biochar-international.org) has launched a project in Pakistan to assess how utilizing biochar, a form of charcoal made from organic biomass, can build resilience in Punjab province communities that are already at high risk from the impacts of climate change. Open burning of crop residues is common in Punjab and surrounding regions and it causes severe adverse effects on public health nationally. Making biochar of those residues should reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offer a solution to the health impacts, while also aiding economic development for local farmers through the potential for carbon removal credits, as biochar is an IPCC-recognized carbon dioxide removal technology. CIEIF will support a top-notch team of IBI researchers as well as local experts to initiate the Punjab field test while conducting environmental impact assessment, life cycle assessment, and public health impact analysis for it. CIEIF’s funding also has allowed IBI to obtain a matching grant from the Indus Climate Fund for a parallel project in Sindh province.
Photographs and more details about all three projects will be available at cieif.org/current-grants (under construction).
CIEIF also is announcing another round of three grants for the first half of 2024 with increased award amounts of $65,000 each. The deadline for applications is June 1. 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/.
CIEIF will issue future reminders of this 2024 opportunity. To receive them directly, go to cieif.org/ and Sign Up for Updates.