Planet Of The Year: Hands Across the Sea

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That leaves Japan, now the world's most financially powerful country, with a heavy responsibility for taking a leading role in bankrolling solutions to the environmental crisis. Japan has long shied away from assuming a major place in international affairs because of its militaristic adventures of the 1930s and '40s, but as Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita has made clear, his country realizes its international duty and is willing to shoulder it.

Japan's foreign aid appropriations of more than $10 billion in 1988 outstripped U.S. outlays, and Tokyo has increased its contributions to the World Bank and other environment-conscious lending institutions. The Takeshita government is willing to give more, but its efforts have ironically been hampered by the U.S., which is reluctant to give the Japanese a greater say in running these international groups. One solution might be to set up a new financial entity, an International Bank for Environmental Protection, in which the Japanese could have a major responsibility for both funding and management.

America, for its part, is at a turning point. The Reagan Administration, with its poor record on environmental issues, is coming to a close. President- elect Bush, who turned the pollution of Boston Harbor into a successful campaign issue, has an opportunity to show that he is serious about saving the planet -- even after the election. He sent out an encouraging signal last week by naming veteran conservationist William Reilly to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Reilly, 48, president of the World Wildlife Fund, promised a "new and constructive course" on environmental problems. It is none too soon.