The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is a left-of-center United Kingdom-based non-profit foundation that focuses on providing financial support to climate-change initiatives, environmentalist organizations, and to groups tackling various issues surrounding children. ^{1 2}

In 2020, the CIFF Foundation pledged $7,000,000 to the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), a project that has heavily pushed for litigation against energy and fossil fuel companies due to the costs attributed to climate change. ³

CIFF also contributed £150,000 (roughly $196,000) to Extinction Rebellion (XR), a radical environmental activist organization created in the United Kingdom in mid-2019. ⁴

Background

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) was founded by Christopher Hohn, an English hedge fund manager, billionaire philanthropist, and funder of the left-wing environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion ⁵ alongside his ex-wife Jaimee Cooper-Hohn (going by Jaimee Cooper as of 2025). ⁶ Hohn and Cooper also created the Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI), a hedge fund run by Hohn with the intent of funneling 1% of its assets to CIFF. ⁷

As of 2020, CIFF employs approximately 120 people across the world in countries such as England, Kenya, Ethiopia, China, and India. The foundation has offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi, and New Delhi ⁸

CIFF has reported receiving donations amounting to approximately $2.4 billion since 2004 and an endowment value of $6 billion as of 2020. ⁹

Activities

According to its website, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) has provided funding towards initiatives around global health, the environment, gender equity, and child protection. ²

In the area of child health and development, CIFF supports preventive care systems, particularly maternal and neonatal health, routine vaccination, and child nutrition. CIFF emphasizes working to strengthen government health systems and community health worker networks. CIFF has claimed to have given $425.8 million in total contributions for child health and development initiatives, with the bulk of funding going towards combating self-described Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), malnutrition, and unhygienic wash practices. ¹⁰

CIFF’s climate change portfolio includes efforts to accelerate decarbonization through large-scale systemic interventions. This includes funding left-of-center initiatives through climate policy reform, supporting global methane reductions, and promoting public and private reform such as shareholder disclosure campaigns through initiatives like “Say on Climate.” ¹¹

Within sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), CIFF supports access to contraception, self-managed care models, and safe abortion services, particularly for adolescents. The organization’s work in this area aligns with left-of-center social policy positions emphasizing bodily autonomy, reproductive choice, and gender equality as human rights. CIFF partners with left-of-center advocacy coalitions and international rights-based platforms such as ICPD+25 and the Generation Equality Forum. ¹²

CIFF’s Girl Capital initiative claims to increase agency and economic opportunity for girls, particularly in India and Ethiopia. CIFF funds programs aimed at reducing child marriage, increasing school completion, and promoting financial inclusion for adolescent girls. The program uses a left-of-center gender-transformative approach, focusing on shifting social norms and improving access to education and livelihoods. ¹³

CIFF claims to contribute to child protection by targeting systemic risks such as child labor, trafficking, and online exploitation. CIFF supports local government capacity, digital tracking tools, and social protection interventions to prevent harm. The organization’s approach prioritizes policy change, public sector engagement, and coordinated state responses over private or community-led efforts. ¹⁴

Funding Left-of-Center Initiatives

According to a 2025 report by the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT), between 2014 and 2023 the CIFF donated over $553 million towards roughly 40 U.S-based organizations that advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and left-of-center environmentalist policies. The same report alleged that between 2011 and 2023, CIFF had donated over $11 million to the New Venture Fund and Windward Fund, two nonprofits managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. The report also notes it has contributed to left-of-center environmentalist organizations including the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, The Sunrise Project, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, ClimateWorks Foundation, Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, the World Resources Institute, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. ¹⁵

The report also notes how CIFF staff have both attended events for, and been staff members of, organizations with alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A deleted 2019 post on X (formerly Twitter) revealed CIFF CEO Kate Hampton speaking at a 2019 meeting of the International Green Development Coalition, a China-founded environmental coalition, discussing shifting “Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI)…from “brown to green.” ¹⁵ Hampton was also noted as a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development as well as a 2024 recipient of the country’s “Friendship Award” which is granted to foreigners in recognition of achievements for Beijing. The ATP report also notes that CIFF itself is a member of several CCP-linked organizations including the National Renewable Energy Center, the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Centre (FECO), Tsinghua University, and the Energy Foundation China. The report further alleges CIFF is on the donor steering committee for the Chinese and CCP-linked Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT). ¹⁵

Financials

According to its 2022 990 form, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) reported a revenue of $2,175,058, expenses of $148,389,116, and total assets of $147,469,388 ¹⁶

Funding

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)reports $1.709 billion in current multi-year grant commitments. These commitments are broken down into $808.6 million towards climate change, $425.8 million towards child health and development, $349.3 million sexual and reproductive health and rights, $98.3 million towards girl capital, $18.4 million towards child protection, and $8.6 million towards cross-cutting. ¹⁷

CIFF receives donations from a variety of sources, including private sector entities, foundations, and individual donors. Some notable donors include the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Gates Foundation, and the United Arab Emirates. CIFF received funding from other groups such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Comic Relief US, and (RED), but as of 2025, the information listing these groups has been removed from the website. ¹⁸ CIFF also partners with organizations like UNICEF and the African Development Bank Group. ¹⁹

In 2020, CIFF pledged $7,000,000 to the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), a project that has promoted increased litigation against traditional energy and fossil fuel companies while blaming them for the costs attributed to climate change. ³

CIFF contributed £150,000 (roughly $196,000) in 2019 towards Extinction Rebellion (XR), a radical environmental activist organization which has engaged in acts of direct action aimed at bringing about its climate policy “demands,” the main one being the elimination of the use of conventional “fossil fuels” by 2025. ²⁰

CIFF has also contributed $25,000,000 towards the European Climate Foundation, ClientEarth initiative ClientEarth Phase II, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Clean Air Fund, the Foundation for International Law for the Environment, Climate Strategic Litigation Europe, and Industrial Decarbonization. ¹

Hohn personally contributed £50,000 (approximately $65,000) to XR, and the CIFF contributed £150,000 (roughly $196,000)⁴ to the activist group which uses tactics such as mass occupation of major streets and landmarks,²¹ property defacement and destruction,²² and causing public disturbances outside the offices of major media organizations to further its goals. ²³

Leadership

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) was established in 2002 by Chris Hohn and at the time Jamie Cooper-Hohn, who later divorced in 2014. Hohn has stayed with the foundation as Chair of the Board of Trustees and remains the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of the London-based hedge fund, The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI). Prior to all this, Hohn managed investment strategies for other hedge funds for almost a decade. ²⁴

Kate Hampton became CIFF’s CEO in March 2016 after running CIFF’s Climate Change team since 2009. Hampton currently serves in voluntary board and advisory roles including the Observer Research Foundation (India), the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the Global Climate Finance Centre (UAE) and the We Protect Global Alliance. Hampton is also chair of the European Climate Foundation. Previously, Hampton has served on the advisory committees for the presidents of COP28, COP26, and the inaugural Africa Climate Summit. ²⁵

Controversy

In 2014, Christopher Hohn was ordered to pay £337 million (approximately $440 million) to Jaimee Cooper in 2014 after the pair divorced. Later, in 2020, Hohn’s Children’s Investment Fund Foundation was ordered to pay £270 million (approximately $350 million) to Big Win Philanthropy, a charity Cooper founded after the divorce, as part of years-long divorce proceedings. ²⁶

1. “Grant Portfolio.” Grant Portfolio: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://ciff.org/grant-portfolio/list/.
2. “Priorities.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/
3. “Revealed: Foreign Billionaire Behind the Group Pushing American Cities to Sue Energy Producers.” EID Climate – A Project of IPAA, January 8, 2020. https://eidclimate.org/revealed-foreign-billionaire-behind-the-group-pushing-american-cities-to-sue-energy-producers/.
4. “Not American, but He’s Got a Rich Footprint in U.S. Environmental Politics.” RealClearInvestigations. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/01/06/a_british_billionaires_big_investments_in_us_environmental_politics_121359.html.
5. Gilbert, Mark. “The Hedge Fund Industry Gets Its Own Greta Thunberg.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-02/christopher-hohn-goes-extinction-rebellion-on-hedge-fund-industry.
6. “Who We Are.” CIFF. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://ciff.org/about-us/who-we-are/
7. Reporter, Daily Mail. “City High-Flier Is UK’s Most Generous Donor.” This is Money. This Is Money, June 29, 2006. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1599999/City-high-flier-is-UKs-most-generous-donor.html.
8. “Children’s Investment Fund Foundation – About.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/company/children’s-investment-fund-foundation-ciff-/about/.
9. “Endowment.” CIFF. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://ciff.org/about-us/endowment/.
10. “Child Health and Development.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/child-health-development/
11. “Climate Change.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/climate-change/
12. “Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/srhr/
13. “Girl Capital.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/girl-capital/
14. “Child Protection.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/priorities/child-protection/
15. Fahlberg, Audrey. “Inside British Billionaire Christopher Hohn’s Efforts to Bankroll Social Justice, Climate Radicalism on U.S. Soil.” National Review, September 24, 2025. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/inside-british-billionaire-christopher-hohns-efforts-to-bankroll-social-justice-climate-radicalism-on-u-s-soil/
16. “The Childrens Investment Fund Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” Projects.Propublica.Org. ProPublica, December 31, 2022. Last modified December 31, 2022. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43632641/202323199349106662/full
17. “Grant Portfolio.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/grant-portfolio/
18. “Children’s Investment Fund Foundation – The Global Fund.” Www.Theglobalfund.Org. The Global Fund, n.d. https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/private-ngo-partners/resource-mobilization/childrens-investment-fund-foundation/.
19. “Carter Center Featured Partner: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.” Www.Cartercenter.Org. The Carter Center, April 2012. Last modified April 2012. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://www.cartercenter.org/donate/corporate-government-foundation-partners/archives/childrens-investment-fund-foundation.html.
20. “Our Demands.” Extinction Rebellion. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/demands/.
21. Taylor, Matthew, and Damien Gayle. “Dozens Arrested after Climate Protest Blocks Five London Bridges.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, November 17, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/17/thousands-gather-to-block-london-bridges-in-climate-rebellion.
22. Taylor, Matthew, and Damien Gayle. “Thousands Block Roads in Extinction Rebellion Protests across London.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, April 15, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/15/thousands-expected-in-london-for-extinction-rebellion-protest.
23. Andone, Dakin. “NYPD Arrests 66 People at a Climate Protest Outside The New York Times Offices.” CNN. Cable News Network, June 24, 2019. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/22/us/extinction-rebellion-new-york-times-arrests/index.html.
24.  “Team – Chris Hohn.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/team/chris-hohn/
25. “Team – Kate Hampton.” CIFF. Accessed July 17, 2025. https://ciff.org/team/kate-hampton/
26. Neate, Riley. “Billionaire ordered to pay £270m to charity after divorce settlement.” The Guardian. July 29, 2020, accessed July 17, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/29/billionaire-ordered-to-pay-270m-to-charity-after-divorce-settlement