Young plaintiffs in Hawaii reach historic climate deal

A group of young plaintiffs has reached a historic climate settlement with the state of Hawaii and the Hawaii Department of Transportation in a deal that will pressure the state to clean up tailpipe pollution.

The 13 young plaintiffs filed suit in 2022, when they were all between the ages of 9 and 18. Navahine F. v. Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT), alleged that the state and HDOT violated their right to “a clean and healthy environment,” which is enshrined in Hawaii’s constitution.

O town, reached on Thursday, affirms that right and commits DOT to create a plan to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 2045. To reach that goal, the state will have to dedicate at least $40 million to build its electric vehicle charging network by the end of the decade and complete new pedestrian, bicycle and public transport networks over the next five years. The agreement also creates a new unit within HDOT charged with coordinating CO2 emissions reductions and a council of young volunteers to advise HDOT.

“I am very proud of all the hard work that has gone into getting us to this historic moment. We got what we wanted, faster than we expected,” lead plaintiff Navahine F. said in an emailed statement.

In 2018, Hawaii committed to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2045 – in line with climate to look for determined it was necessary to meet the Paris climate agreement’s goal of stopping global warming. But the state wasn’t doing enough to achieve that goal, the plaintiffs alleged. Transport makes up biggest piece of greenhouse gas pollution in the state.

“Climate change is indisputable,” said Ed Sniffen, HDOT transportation director, in a statement. Press release. “Burying your head in the sand and making this a problem for the next generation is not pono.”

Montana youth scored another historic legal victory last year after the first climate case of its kind to go to trial. A state court found that a Montana policy that prohibited officials from considering the consequences of climate change when allowing new energy projects violated plaintiffs’ rights to a “clean and healthy environment.” The Hawaii lawsuit was expected to be the next landmark youth climate case to be tried in the United States. Several other state and federal youth climate processes are still underway. pending In the USA