City celebrates Earth Day by releasing 2022 Annual Sustainability Report, reflecting on progress, and encouraging residents to “Conserve808”

News release from Office of the Mayor, April 22, 2022

HONOLULU – Earlier today, Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced release of the City and County of Honolulu’s (City) 2022 Annual Sustainability Report (ASR), which tracks overall performance in meeting Oʻahu sustainability, resiliency, climate change and equity goals.

Earth Day 2022 stresses the need for climate action and water and energy conservation with the global theme Invest in Our Planet. “Together, we are making incredible strides and progress towards our sustainability goals! A year ago today, we proudly released our first-ever Climate Action Plan,” said Mayor Blangiardi. “Both the Climate Action Plan and Annual Sustainability Report hold us accountable in following through on our goals and reminds us what is at stake. If we continue to work together and remain diligent, we can transform the sustainability and resiliency of both City operations and our communities.”

“I thank the City for leading by example with its responsiveness to the island wide call to reduce water usage by at least 10%,” said Ernest Lau, manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. “From institutional to individual actions, we all have a kuleana to conserve as we manage reduced water resources and in advance of summer. There is an immediate need to kōkua and also longer-term opportunities to innovate One Water practices for conservation, recharge, and reuse.”

To assist residents and businesses with easy information about conserving both water and energy, the City’s new Conserve808 webpage compiles existing tips, cost saving-measures and incentives, available at resilientoahu.org/conserve808.

This Earth Day also marks one year since the City released Honolulu’s first Climate Action Plan, which outlines actions in the energy, transportation and waste sectors for Oʻahu to reduce emissions by 45 percent in the targeted sectors by 2025. Already, more than two-thirds of plan actions have been initiated, with one-third of actions showing significant progress or completion. Notable progress includes Council-adoption of all transit-oriented development plans, streamlining of parking requirements and residential solar permitting led by the Department of Planning and Permitting; 17 new electric buses and installation of charging infrastructure, HOLO transit card rollout and installation of new bikeways by the Department of Transportation Services; installation of energy and water efficiency upgrades at City facilities led by the Department of Design and Construction; and the City’s introduction of a Better Buildings Benchmarking program to support energy, water and cost savings among Oʻahu’s largest buildings.

“It’s important to celebrate the significant progress accomplished in the past year. We also know there’s more good work to be done,” said Matthew Gonser, chief resilience officer and executive director of the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency. “As we grapple with the global and local consequences of burning fossil fuels, it’s more urgent than ever to help our community reap the benefits of cost savings and greater island self-sufficiency by reducing water and energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. We are partnering today to empower households and businesses with resources to Conserve808 and address Oʻahu’s near-term challenges, while slingshotting us all toward a more stable tomorrow.”

The City’s ASR offers an annual snapshot of our island’s progress—and areas needing improvement—in meeting community goals. This year’s report also features new sections on food security and sustainability and the City’s One Water program.

Check out the Annual Sustainability Report at resilientoahu.org/sustainability-report.

—PAU—

SA: Honolulu makes progress on sustainability goals

HNN: Making progress to reach goal, city completes a third of conservation actions