In his first state-of-the-city speech in mid-March, Rick Blangiardi, mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, emphasized the city's commitment to "climate resilience."
"From sea level rise, rain bombs, and increasing temperatures, we're taking steps toward a climate-ready Oahu," said the mayor, who was sworn in at the start of 2021. The island of Oahu is home to the city and county of Honolulu.
"We're shifting from talking about policy to doing something about it," Blangiardi added.
Sustainability and climate change are issues that Honolulu's leaders have been working to address for years. In 2016, the city was awarded a 100 Resilient Cities Initiative Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to help fund the hiring of a chief resilience officer to work with the city on crafting climate change and resilience plans.
Since then, Honolulu has debuted a Resilience Strategy and a Climate Action Plan, which have helped inspire citywide legislation to reduce the energy burden on residents, promote access to renewable energy, expand clean transportation, and support locally grown food producers.
Here's a look at some of Honolulu's sustainability initiatives.