Climate Commission Leadership Applauds Honolulu Directive

Following Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s announcement of the City and County of Honolulu Directive 18-01, the co-chairs of the Hawai‘i Climate Change and Adaptation Commission (the Commission) applauded this proactive move as an, “important step toward minimizing risks and adapting to the impacts of sea level rise.”

The co-chairs of the Commission are DLNR Chair Suzanne Case and the head of the State Office of Planning, Leo Asuncion.  In a joint statement on Monday, July 16, 2018, Case and Asuncion stated, “In our Sea Level Rise Adaptation Recommendations section of last year’s report to the Hawai‘i State Legislature we emphasized that county governments should be planning for wave over-wash, groundwater inundation, erosion, and drainage backflow resulting from an acceleration in sea level rise of 3.2 feet by mid-century, and possibly as much as six-feet of sea level rise in later decades of this century and beyond, especially for critical infrastructure with long lifespans and low risk tolerance.”

“Fighting global climate change will take a coordinated effort, and I applaud Mayor Caldwell’s initiatives to plan for and mitigate sea level rise in the City and County of Honolulu,” said Gov. David Ige.

The Mayor’s directive, the Co-Chairs added, “Takes the Commission’s science-based recommendations on sea level rise and puts them into clear actions. This is the kind of cooperation between various levels of government the Commission and staff envisioned when developing the report. These are the kind of actions that will become increasingly necessary as all of Hawai‘i continues to face the consequences of sea level rise and other climate change impacts.”