The Honolulu City Council today unanimously passed the first-ever Climate Action Plan for the City and County of Honolulu, committing to a path that cuts carbon pollution by an estimated 45% by 2025 and 60% by 2035. The Climate Action Plan was created in response to Council Resolution 18-221, which was passed in late 2018 and called on the Administration to deliver a plan with concrete milestones to transition Oʻahu to 100% renewable energy and carbon neutrality by 2045.
“We are already seeing, first-hand, the impacts of climate change on O‘ahu. We never had 90-degree temperatures when I was growing up, but now, for the temperature to hit 90-degrees or higher is common during the summer,” said Tommy Waters, chair and presiding officer of the Honolulu City Council. “If we’re going to be able to continue to live and thrive in Hawaiʻi, we have got to implement climate solutions now.”
The Climate Action Plan is a science-based and community-driven strategy that pinpoints nine strategies and 47 discrete actions to be implemented in the City and County of Honolulu over the next five years. The main areas highlighted for action include:
- Electrifying ground transportation and increasing walking and biking
- Encouraging more density and mixed land use
- Increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy
- Reducing the amount of solid waste on Oʻahu
Electricity generation currently produces 35% of carbon pollution on Oʻahu, cars and trucks produce 20% of emissions, and solid waste and wastewater treatment contribute another 3% of emissions.
“The good news is that addressing climate change can also improve the quality of life for residents in my community,” said Radiant Cordero, the Chair of the Transportation, Sustainability and Health Committee. “Whether it’s saving on our electricity bills or cooling our streets with trees, doing the right thing for the planet is also the right thing in our neighborhoods.”
According to the City’s 2021 Annual Sustainability Report, carbon emissions have been going in the wrong direction recently. Oʻahu’s carbon pollution level stabilized in 2016 and 2017 at 15.1 million tons of pollution per year, but then rose in 2018 and again in 2019 to 16.2 million tons — the highest level in five years. The average person on Oʻahu produces twice as much carbon emissions per year than the global average.
The Climate Action Plan can be found at this link: https://resilientoahu.org/climate-action-plan
The Honolulu City Council is the lawmaking body of the City and County of Honolulu. The Council is responsible for serving and advancing the general welfare, health, happiness and safety of the residents of O‘ahu through exercising its legislative power. http://www.honolulu.gov/council/default.html