Like many island systems, Hawaii and its ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to the dangerous threats from climate change. As a scholar of environmental history, I know first-hand that these threats sit on more than a century of major impacts to our native ecosystems and communities that have reduced our resilience. Recent events such as the Maui wildfires, COVID-19 pandemic, major flooding events and the Red Hill water crisis have laid bare vulnerabilities Hawaii faces, and the need to build resilience of our communities to prepare for the crises to come.
The reality is that these crises come at a huge cost — a social, emotional, cultural and economic cost. The Lahaina tragedy is a case in point, where billions of dollars are being marshalled to rebuild from the ravages of that catastrophic wildfire, to say nothing of the emotional cost. We must do everything we can to prevent future climate-driven tragedies. The first place to look is where we put our dollars to work currently, and to understand what we need to prevent and mitigate the next disaster from occurring.
The Care for ‘Aina Now coalition (CAN) recently commissioned an analysis assessing the current state of funding for our natural resources, and what level of funding we need to be prepared to confront the climate crisis. The 31-page report, “2024 State of Natural Resource Financing in Hawai‘i,” finds that our communities face a staggering $560 million gap in annual funding required to adequately steward our natural resources and safeguard communities from the escalating impacts of climate change. In five years, the conservation gap is expected to be at minimum $641 million, with an upper range of $1.93 billion. This shortfall in funding is expected to grow over time. If left unaddressed, it will increase the vulnerability of our communities and our economy, increasing the cost of living in Hawaii as we rebuild continually from future floods, fires, droughts and more climate-driven shocks.
This funding gap is an unfunded liability that puts our people at risk and endangers our economic and cultural wellbeing. Fortunately, there is a solution that has been in the dialogue, and which dozens of other jurisdictions have put in place with good effect. It is an environmental impact fee, which visitors pay to offset their environmental impact and which we can use to fund green jobs and stewardship efforts. If Hawaii were to implement a fee of $25-$50 per visitor, hundreds of millions of dollars would support natural resource management and climate-change disaster mitigation. It’s a proven solution and one that will also benefit our tourism industry, where leaders are increasingly focused on a regenerative approach. Similar programs like this already exist in destinations like Palau, Maldives and Galapagos Islands. Tourists there pay these fees, and when surveyed, are supportive of these programs and are happy to be part of the solution in supporting conservation programs.
We have to learn from the recent devastation of Lahaina, the result of a deadly combination of increased temperatures, decreasing rainfall, and lack of investment in land management practices, which let flammable invasive species proliferate. It is a terrible reminder of our unique risk to climate change, made all the more real by the recent fires in Los Angeles.
The science of climate change is clear: We can expect to see more flooding events, more droughts, rising sea levels, and bigger and more damaging storms. We must be more prepared, to provision our own canoe for this journey. We do this by taking care of the reefs, forests, watersheds and ecosystems that provide for our safety. Reefs protect our shorelines from storms. Wetlands absorb flood waters. Native forests shield us from fire risk.
For every dollar of investment we put into these natural defenses, we lower the probability of future disasters by more than tenfold. Where nature is protected, our resilience is higher. We cannot afford to wait.
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For more information, visit careforainanow.org Opens in a new tab and follow on social media services via the handle@careforainanow.
Jack Kittinger, Ph.D., is on the Care for ‘Aina Now Leadership Committee.
