Episode 39: Climate Ready O‘ahu

On this episode of the One O'ahu Podcast, Matt Gonser, the City’s Chief Resilience Officer, joins host Brandi Higa on the One O’ahu Podcast to talk about the City’s First Climate Adaptation Strategy, “Climate Ready Oʻahu” and how residents can weigh in, dry conditions and what this means for wildfire risks, and the challenges that come with trying to enact change.

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Climate Ready O‘ahu

The City and County of Honolulu on Nov. 1, 2023, released a draft of its first ever climate adaptation strategy, called “Climate Ready Oʻahu,” and the City’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency (CCSR) is asking Oʻahu residents to weigh in on the plan by visiting climatereadyoahu.org.

In a continuation of the extensive community engagement that occurred during the development of the draft strategy, CCSR looks forward to reconnecting with community members during a variety of events this November to re-orient members of the public to the strategy and encourage comments on the draft. Comments will be accepted through December 1, 2023.

Climate adaptation means proactively preparing for and adapting to the impacts of our changing climate.

Climate Ready Oʻahu focuses on five main local climate hazards and outlines a vision for a climate-ready future consisting of broad adaptation strategies and complementary actions for implementation, including actions you can take to empower individual and community preparedness.

Climate Ready Oʻahu accompanies the City’s other community-driven climate resilience efforts, including the Resilience Strategy, Climate Action Plan, and in-development Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan.

Wildfire Risks

CCSR is one of one of more than twenty City departments, along with Federal and State partners that make up the Wildfire Risk Assessment Group assembled by Mayor Blangiardi and Managing Director Michael Formby. On this episode of the One O‘ahu Podcast, Matt Gonser addresses a potential misunderstanding or confusion about fires and climate change.

“Climate Change is not causing the fires,” explained Gonser. “Unfortunately, we know through historical data and even recent experiences that a lot of the ignitions are human caused, sometimes unintentional. And that’s very unfortunate. But the changes to our environment as a result of climate change are more fuel for increasing risk from fire.”

When it comes to finding a solution and decreasing that risk, the answer is difficult but Gonser goes on to explain a few actions that can help us adapt to the changes of our climate.