Developing Strategic Approaches or Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Planning in Hawai‘i
Partner organizations: State of Hawai‘i Office of Planning and Sustainable Development
Team members: Jake Brady (robotics engineering ’23), Max Halloran (biomedical engineering ’23), Emily Howard (biomedical engineering ’23), Aidan Lynn (mechanical engineering ’23)
Watch the team’s final presentation.
The growing effects of climate change are strongly impacting coastal regions throughout the world. The state of Hawai‘i is particularly vulnerable because it is made up of small islands that contain a wide range of natural systems and communities. As these impacts continue to intensify, it is important for Hawai‘i to have an official statewide climate adaptation and resilience plan. The State of Hawai‘i’s Office of Planning and Sustainable Development (OPSD) has published multiple climate-related plans that address climate change and sustainability, but these plans do not provide a comprehensive and holistic statewide strategy identifying specific climate risks, climate vulnerabilities, and adaptations for multiple climate change impacts. The goal of this project was to assist the State of Hawai‘i’s Office of Planning and Sustainable Development by providing a report containing relevant information about climate adaptation planning approaches, technological strategies that have been implemented in other areas throughout the world, and recommendations as to which strategies and approaches could be applied to a future climate change adaptation and resilience plan for the State of Hawai‘i. To accomplish this goal, our team developed the following objectives:
- Objective 1: Obtain and analyze information from experts on the current and ongoing impacts of climate change local to Hawai‘i.
This objective required the team to gain a strong understanding of the climate change impacts that are uniquely affecting Hawai‘i, planning that is currently underway, and the gaps that have been experienced in climate planning for the state. To do this, our team conducted semi-structured interviews with local government officials, professors, and researchers.
- Objective 2: Analyze the processes and developmental approaches of adaptation plans from other areas.
This objective required the team to conduct semi-structured interviews with planning experts to understand the decisions behind how the overall plan was developed, and how the adaptation plan is enforced, monitored, and funded.
- Objective 3: Identify adaptation strategies that have been suggested for implementation in regions outside of Hawai‘i.
Our team identified eight climate change impacts based on the information gathered in objectives 1 and 2. Additional literature reviews were performed to determine five strategies that have been implemented in other places throughout the world to address each impact.
Results
Through the information gathered in the semi-structured interviews and additional research in objective 1, we identified eight climate change impacts that most severely affect the state of Hawai‘i. These eight impacts of focus were: sea level rise (SLR), extreme hurricanes, intense rainfall, ocean warming/acidification, drought, urban heat, wildfires, and landslides.
We determined that two common approaches to writing an adaptation plan are traditional adaptation planning and the application of adaptation pathways. Traditional adaptation planning looks far into the future and relies on implementing adaptation measures early to reduce the impacts of climate change when they arrive. Whereas, adaptation pathways act as a series of adaptation measures that can be implemented as environmental conditions change over time (Werners et al, 2021). Unlike traditional planning, finalizing decisions and implementation is delayed until certain environmental or community thresholds are reached so that necessary changes to the plan or adaptation measures can be made in order to adapt to changing conditions or political climate.
We collected information about various strategies that have been implemented or are planned to be implemented in other areas of the world. Some of these strategies have already been implemented in Hawai‘i but were reiterated in this objective to demonstrate their use in other places. These strategies were compiled for each of the eight impacts of climate change that were identified in objective 1. We then analyzed these strategies to make recommendations for which measures could most benefit the State of Hawai‘i if included in a statewide climate adaptation and resilience plan.
Recommendations
Based on our findings, we developed three main recommendations. Recommendations 1 and 2 include our suggestions for approaches and specific adaptation strategies for addressing each impact. We recommend that the State utilize adaptation pathways to address coastal flooding due to SLR, urban heat, and wildfires. Our second recommendation is that the State utilizes traditional adaptation planning approaches to address flash floods and landslides due to increased rainfall and storms, ocean warming, and drought. Finally, our third recommendation includes strategies to promote stakeholder involvement and community engagement. Each of these recommendations is supported by a detailed rationale and an explanation for how it could be implemented in the state. It is our hope that the State of Hawai‘i’s Office of Planning and Sustainable Development (OPSD) will benefit from the recommendations and research our team has provided.