Honolulu City Council adopts Blangiardi's climate plan - KHON2

Honolulu City Council adopts Blangiardi’s climate plan | KHON2

HONOLULU (KHON2) — City and County of Honolulu officials and partnering organizations will be celebrating the adoption of Climate Ready Oahu.

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It’s being called the city’s first-ever climate adaptation strategy to deal with the impacts of climate change. A tree-planting ceremony will highlight Thursday’s event at Makalapa Neighborhood Park.

The Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency Executive Director Matthew Gonser joined Wake Up 2Day on Thursday morning to share more on the plan.

“This really is a game plan for the city to recognize the impacts that we’re experiencing today and take those proactive steps to prepare ourselves for the increasing risk that climate change poses,” Gonser said.

The plan highlights the risks that five hazards from current and projected temperature rises pose.

This is a community-driven science-based strategy and it really highlights five main hazards of concern. Including sea level rise and coastal erosion, increasing temperatures and heat waves, prolonged drought which then can drive wildfire risk, but also too much rainfall when we have flash flooding, and something like a hurricane that poses multiple hazards like storm surge high winds and heavy rain.” Executive Director Matthew Gonser Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency

The cost of climate disasters is apparent frequently. Currently, the Texas panhandle is battling massive fires burning with winds and unseasonably warm conditions for February. The Maui wildfires, spread with powerful winds due to Hurricane Dora to Hawaii’s south, are now costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Looking ahead, DOT director Ed Sniffen has told KHON2 that the 10-mile stretch of Kamehameha Highway between Hauula and Kaaawa is destined to be inundated by sea level rise by the year 2100, along with 20% of Hawaii’s roadways.

“We’re open about the risks and we know that we need to continue to build coalitions to act on these things recognizing that yes it will take time it will take money, but typically the benefits come after the costs and we want to make sure that we continue to invest so that this place can continue to love us,” Gonser said.

This plan has been under construction since 2020. Gonser hopes that it can help Oahu residents feel more agency when confronting the possible impacts of climate change.

It started during a different crisis the COVID pandemic crisis. We wanted to make sure we were deliberate in engaging community. We wanted to find opportunities to do it in person, to hear directly from them what they are already doing and what additional information they might need to keep it cool in their house, address flooding in their neighborhood, so all throughout the strategy within each of the pages of the actions there’s a section called actions you can take. That’s where we really wanted to highlight and continue to empower people with information.” Executive Director Matthew Gonser Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency

For more information about Climate Ready Oahu head over their website.