A Nationwide Impact: Cleaning up the Environment

Home to 142 million people and spanning 11 time zones, Russia also houses some of the world's most precious natural resources. Among them is one of the world's largest carbon sinks—vast forests that store carbon dioxide and release oxygen and play a major role in climate change. But Russia faces intense economic pressure to extract and develop its resources-often at the expense of public health and a healthy environment.

When ISC began working in Russia in the early nineties, many successful small pilot or demonstration projects had been carried out in many places throughout the country, but there was no system for sharing experiences among Russian communities, or ensuring that the successes of these small projects would continue to serve the Russian people for years to come. Soviet rule had been top down, with little or no connection to local communities-and when the government collapsed, there were very few nonprofit organizations or local governments ready and able to step into the void to tackle severe problems.

With this in mind, we launched a nationwide project (known as the Replication of Lessons Learned project, or ROLL) that, over 11 years, would lay the foundation for Russians to work directly with other Russians to solve severe environmental problems by cleaning up polluted air and water, eliminating toxic waste, installing energy efficient equipment, and launching sustainable businesses. We funded 427 projects in every corner of the country, and established or strengthened 6 regional centers to house information and expertise that would help Russians continue to solve environmental problems long into the future. Our Russian staff launched their own nonprofit, the Fund for Sustainable Development, in 2005 to continue working with communities to address energy efficiency, climate change, and the environment.

Environmental Success: A Portrait in Numbers

65	Percentage of environmental projects that continue to operate after ISC's involvement ended.
1500	Number of times ISC's environmental projects were adapted in other communities after our involvement ended.
2.5 million	Number of people positively affected by health risk assessment projects such as allergy reduction, male reproductive health, and PCB mitigation and reduction.
20 to 50%	Percentage decrease in energy consumption in 13 community-wide energy efficiency projects.
$4.5 million	Amount of projected savings (in U.S. dollars) in energy consumption over the next ten years in 13 communities that launched energy-efficiency initiatives.
600	Number of new full-time jobs created as a result of ISC's projects.
70	Number of new environmentally sensitive technologies developed and implemented.
645,000	Acres of land protected through the 50 new Protected Natural Areas that we helped establish.
100	Percentage of ISC's environmental health projects that led to programs adopted by the Russian Federation.
206	Number of legal initiatives and executive decisions made and implemented.
12	Number of regional centers established to support environmental education.