In a statement from the Japanese government issued in advance of the Japan-Pacific Islands Forum to be held in Hokkaido in May, the Japanese government said a key negotiating point in the forum would be the formation of a Pacific environmental community dedicated toward developing a regional approach to climate change and other environmental issues.

With each country intended to be an “equal partner” in the discussion, the community pact would likely focus on developing solutions for biodiversity loss, sanitation issues, and global warming. Japan, in particular, has pledged to provide much of the technical expertise community members will need to combat rising sea levels and put in place warning systems for tsunami.

Japan hopes that the establishment of an environmental network will help to strengthen pro-Japanese sentiment in the region, as well as establish a more open dialogue between Japan and the smaller Pacific islands nations and regional powers like Australia and New Zealand. Already, Japan has hosted the chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum as a means of enhancing relations with their island neighbors.

Image: “Marine Diving” by the Marine Art Center for the Japan-Pacific Islands Forum

A dolphin trade conference in the Solomon Islands intended to be a conciliatory maneuver by the national government to calm the furor over their sale of live dolphins seems to have left many unpersuaded. As The Equatorial Press reported earlier this month, the conference was intended to placate critics who targeted the sale of dolphins from the Solomons to Mexico and Dubai.

According to several environmentalists, the conference was less than successful at persuading them that the dolphin trade was conducted in a reasonable manner. Lawrence Makili, regional director for the Earth Island Institute, accused the government of squelching all debate and using the event as a press conference. Makili said:

In fact it was a farce, I thought, made by the Minister for Environment and Conservation. In fact at the end of the conference I just realised I was called in just because the Minister would like to announce the stance of the current government about the quota of dolphin exports. So it was not really a consultation effort to get views from all the stakeholders. It was only designed in a way that dolphin traders came in and were happy with the Minister’s announcement.

Seconding the accusations was Maliki’s superior Mark Berman, who serves as associate director of the Earth Island Institute. In an editorial, he claimed that the government ignored statements he had provided that stated the International Union for the Conservation of Nature had determined the trade was not scientifically sound. He later cited the fact that the main opposition scientist was funded by the company that had purchased 28 dolphins from the Solomons to send to Dubai.

Image: Dolphins in the Solomon Islands

From opposite parts of the Pacific Ocean came opposite struggles this week. In Hawaii, the controversial Superferry service was shuttered due to court intervention, while in Australia’s Queensland region, a cargo ship’s oil leak has caused major environmental damage.

The Hawaiian court decision was met with widespread cheering from environmentalists, among them the Pacific Whale Foundation which was one of the first organizations to challenge the legality of the Superferry service. The state Supreme Court found that Act 2, the law passed to allow Superferry to operate without an official environmental impact study, was unconstitutional because it applied only to a single business. Greg Kaufman, president of the Foundation, said:

It is regrettable that Hawaii Superferry did not choose to comply with HRS-343, the state law which requires an Environmental Impact Statement before launching this type of new operation. Instead, they tried to run their business before the environmental study was completed, even while the community was vocally demanding they complete it.

The concern stemmed from the Superferry’s unprecedented speed. While most ships traveling intra-island in Hawaii voluntarily go no faster than 12 knots to avoid harming humpback whale breeding grounds, the Superferry regularly traveled 35 knots or more, according to the Foundation. Without any environmental impact study, environmentalists claimed there was no way to tell the amount of damage the Superferry caused at its high speeds.

In Australia, a company known for its environmental do-gooder status watched as one of its cargo ships was punctured while riding out a storm and dumped more than 10,000 gallons of fuel onto Queensland beaches. Irate Australian officials and citizens have even gone so far as to accuse the company of lying about their initial estimate of the spilled fuel, a charge the company denies. One unresolved question, however, is why the ship was in the area during a major weather event in the first place. The spill swept over two national parks and a popular beach.

Image:Spilt fuel blackens Cape Moreton, Queensland

The Solomon Islands unveiled what they call the Pacific’s first combination biodiesel- solar powered energy source at a rural health clinic, reports the Solomon Star. Though the islands continue to struggle to find a balance between what the international community would like them to do and what their economy must do to sustain itself, they have begun to harness their renewable resources with projects like this one and a recent solar installation in Guadalcanal. Nevertheless, government officials are still nervous, since a single solar project on this scale costs $600,000 or more and, raided for parts, it would cost much more on the black market.

Another island nation is also entering the solar market, as Guam prepares to receive the benefits from President Obama’s stimulus package, which provides small incentives to businesses and households to install renewable energy systems. That, coupled with the United States Environmental Protection Agency greenlighting a renewable energy pilot project for the first time ever in the Pacific territories, and Guam has caught renewable energy fever, reports the island’s KUAM new network.

The Marshall Islands has gone farther afield for energy advice, seeking out the advice of the Asian Development Bank at their Energy Public Policy Forum in the islands’ capital Majuro earlier this year, reports AsiaPulse. According to an agreement reached in February, the bank would assist government officials in developing a sustainable model for energy use, an important goal in a country that spent almost 20% of its national budget on importing fuel to generate electricity in 2008.

Image:Solar panels on a Pacific island