Planet Of The Year: Hands Across the Sea

It is easy to draw up a plan of action for protecting the earth. But that plan will fail unless it is forged with international fellowship and carried out on a global scale. How much good can one country do by reducing carbon- dioxide emissions if another nation offsets that with an increased output of CO2? How can one country keep its beaches clean if its neighbor down the coast dumps sewage or syringes into the sea? "On most environmental questions, the nation-state is obsolete," said Pace University's Nicholas Robinson. "We have to talk about multinational cooperation."

The first goal of that cooperative effort should be to gather the information needed to fashion effective policies. "We've got to get the earth in intensive care, to start to monitor the vital signs of the planet," said John Eddy of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. This could be done by launching an International Earthwatch Program, possibly under the aegis of the United Nations, to coordinate multinational research projects and centralize essential data on the state of the world. Such an umbrella program could pool the results of hundreds of existing research efforts. A prime candidate for this program would be the Mission to Planet Earth, recommended by former astronaut Sally Ride, which would use NASA facilities to study the earth from space. In addition to improving knowledge of the earth's ills, an International Earthwatch Program could provide the basis for a widespread awareness-building campaign aimed at preparing public opinion for the sacrifices and life-style changes that will be necessary in the coming decades. Environmental education programs should be immediately introduced into schools and workplaces around the world, and government leaders should bring these issues into the heart of political debate.

But research and education are no substitutes for concrete action. The world community must move promptly toward comprehensive treaties to protect the air, soil and water. A framework for the effort exists within the U.N., which has already taken some important initiatives. In 1972 the U.N. organized the landmark Stockholm conference, which set up the United Nations Environment Program. It was under UNEP's sponsorship that 24 countries signed the 1987 Montreal Protocol, calling for a reduction in the output of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons. There have also been proposals to enhance UNEP's role as a sort of intergovernmental superagency on environmental questions.

Paralleling the U.N.'s efforts, multilateral financial institutions have a crucial role to play. The World Bank, which lends money for Third World development projects, was long criticized by environmental groups for backing large, ecologically unsound programs -- a cattle-raising scheme in Botswana that led to overgrazing, for example. During the past few years, however, the World Bank has been seeking to factor environmental concerns into its programs. One product of this new approach is an environmental action plan for Madagascar. The 20-year plan, which will be drawn up jointly with the World Wide Fund for Nature, aims at heightening public awareness of environmental issues, setting up and managing protected areas and encouraging sustainable development. Similar aims should also guide the lending policies of the International Monetary Fund, regional development banks and bilateral assistance programs.