Joint commitment to regional resilience highlights end of inaugural Pacific Climate Summit

Representatives from California, Fiji, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Weno gathered earlier this month for an inaugural Pacific Climate Summit to discuss climate challenges, advance implementation of climate mitigation efforts and strengthen collaboration around the Asia-Pacific region.

“Climate change does not recognize borders and the challenges we face in Hawaiʻi are shared by our neighbors across the Pacific,” said Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Acting Chairperson Ryan Kanakaʻole in a department release. “By standing together with our regional partners, we are pooling our collective knowledge, indigenous ecological wisdom and resources to protect our vulnerable coastlines, watersheds and communities from ridge to reef.”

Participants issued a joint statement affirming their shared intent to strengthen climate adaptation and resilience in the Pacific through deeper regional cooperation.

The statement reads:

“Across the Pacific, rising temperatures are driving more frequent and severe climate impacts, exposing communities to mounting climate-related hazards at great cost to households, communities, businesses and public budgets.

“The jurisdictions recognize that strengthening regional adaptive capacity and resilience is vital to ensuring that the diverse communities, natural ecosystems and built economies of the Pacific can continue to thrive despite the escalating challenges, shocks and stresses of climate change and other environmental pressures.

“Recognizing their shared stewardship of the Pacific and the opportunity to strengthen economic resilience through inclusive regional cooperation, the governments of California, Fiji, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati and Weno endeavor to work together — and with other Pacific jurisdictions and partners — to advance climate adaptation and build long-term resilience. To that end, the jurisdictions intend to cooperate on a range of shared priorities to ensure the well-being, safety and prosperity of our communities and ecosystems.

“Together, the jurisdictions intend to work towards sustained cooperation on our shared priorities.”

The 3-day summit, which wrapped up earlier this month, established clear pathways for ongoing partnership, focusing on actionable solutions that can be scaled throughout island nations and coastal states.

“The Pacific region is at the frontline of climate change,” said Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Coordinator Leah Laramee in the release. “We are incredibly proud to lock arms with our international Pacific family. This joint statement transitions us from isolated island strategies into a powerhouse of shared solutions for a safer, more resilient future.”

Contact Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Climate Outreach Leader Bill Unruh via email at bill.unruh.contractor@hawaii.gov for additional information.