Youth in Hawai‘i Reach Historic Climate Settlement to Decarbonize Its State Transportation Sector
By Stephanie Drake
June 21, 2024
Navahine v. Hawai‘i DOT youth plaintiffs, their attorneys, and Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green after announcing historic settlement during a press conference on June 20, 2024
I le‘a ka hula i ka ho‘opa‘a is a Hawaiian saying which translates to “the hula is pleasing because of the drummer.” Essentially, the saying means the smaller details that one pays little attention to are just as important as the major ones.
For the past two years, 13 youth plaintiffs between the ages of 11 and 20 from Hawai‘i, represented by Our Children’s Trust and Earthjustice, have been fearlessly holding the Governor of Hawai’i, the State of Hawai’i, and the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) accountable for their claim that defendants’ operation of Hawai‘i’s transportation system results in high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that harm their lives and safety. In their complaint, the youth plaintiffs describe Hawai‘i’s kuleana (responsibility) to address climate change. The youth also explain how they have been affected by climate change including: sea level rise, flooding, threatened food security from farming because of draught, and wildfires.
The Hawai‘i Constitution states that “[e]ach person has the right to a clean and healthful environment […] including control of pollution and conservation, protection and enhancement of natural resources[i].
Youth plaintiffs in Navahine. v. Hawai’i Department of Transportation sought relief, which would bring the state transportation system into constitutional compliance based on the best available science. After litigating the case for nearly two years, the youth and their government came together to achieve a first-of-its-kind Settlement Agreement that requires HDOT to achieve zero emissions no later than 2045 for ground transportation, sea, and interisland air transportation. In their Final Settlement Agreement, the parties agreed that “experts state that the best scientific evidence today shows that correcting Earth’s energy imbalance requires reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to less than 350 parts per million this century,” one of the first times a government has officially recognized the scientific prescription needed to address the climate crisis.
The plaintiffs were supported in this action by ten of the world’s foremost experts in their fields, including experts in: climate science, transportation, mental health, climate policy, equal protection law, and renewable energy systems. The experts submitted ten expert reports and five rebuttal reports and contributed hundreds of hours of their time pro bono. Defendants also submitted four expert reports, and experts for both sides were deposed during the course of discovery in this case.
Five of the 13 Navahine youth plaintiffs
Just like the hula dancer and the drummer, a lot of attention was paid to the details in this case, both large and small. From the moment it was filed, to arguing a subsequently denied motion to dismiss, to engaging in the discovery process where a total of 37 witnesses were deposed and 76,000 pages of documents were exchanged, preparing for trial, and finally negotiating a Settlement Agreement. Youth plaintiffs, supporting experts, and counsel from Our Children’s Trust and Earthjustice simply wanted to secure their young clients’ constitutional rights and make an impactful change.
In a first-of-its-kind agreement, all three branches of government are working together to address the climate crisis.
For over two decades, Hawai‘i’s legislature has passed numerous climate-related laws in an attempt to decarbonize Hawai‘i’s transportation sector and achieve a zero emissions clean economy by 2045[ii]. Now, with this Settlement Agreement, the executive has committed to meaningful steps to achieve those goals and will develop a plan to do that through the Settlement Agreement. The judiciary will enforce the Settlement Agreement by accepting continuing jurisdiction of the case either through 2045, or until the zero-emission target is achieved—whichever happens first. Never before have all three branches of government come together to work towards science-based responses to the climate crisis in order to protect young people’s fundamental rights to a livable climate.
The Settlement Agreement lays out the terms for defendants to implement, including HDOT drafting a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan and making the draft of the document available for public comment and feedback for thirty (30) days. HDOT has also committed to establishing a volunteer youth council to advise on HDOT’s mitigation and adaptation commitments on a quarterly basis, with transparency about youth council recommendations and HDOT’s responses. There will be continuous work from both parties in the coming months and years to ensure Hawai‘i residents are kept apprised of all measures to increase energy efficiency, develop an integrated multi-modal transportation system, and reduce GHG emissions, including transportation sector emissions specifically. Community support of HDOT’s work under the Settlement Agreement will be vital to its success, and Our Children’s Trust will be continuing to work with the Navahine youth plaintiffs throughout this process.
We are presently in an undeniable climate crisis. Children, like Navahine plaintiff Kaliko, are being displaced by fires and floods, losing family farms from draught, and experiencing health-related issues resulting from these extreme weather events. As adults, we cannot sit idly by and must secure a livable future for our plaintiffs.
“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.”
- President Lyndon B. Johnson