6/25/26 – FIRST PACIFIC CLIMATE SUMMIT CONCLUDES WITH JOINT COMMITMENT TO REGIONAL RESILIENCE

FIRST PACIFIC CLIMATE SUMMIT CONCLUDES WITH JOINT COMMITMENT TO REGIONAL RESILIENCE

HONOLULU – At the inaugural Pacific Climate Summit representatives from California, Fiji, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Weno gathered to discuss climate challenges, advance climate implementation and strengthen collaboration across the Asia-Pacific.

“Climate change does not recognize borders and the challenges we face in Hawaiʻi are shared by our neighbors across the Pacific,” said Ryan Kanakaʻole, acting chairperson of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). “By standing together with our regional partners, we are pooling our collective knowledge, indigenous ecological wisdom and resources to protect our vulnerable coastlines, watersheds and communities from ridge to reef.”

Participants issued a joint statement affirming their shared intent to strengthen climate adaptation and resilience in the Pacific through deeper regional cooperation. The statement reads:

“Across the Pacific, rising temperatures are driving more frequent and severe climate impacts, exposing communities to mounting climate-related hazards at great cost to households, communities, businesses, and public budgets.

“The jurisdictions recognize that strengthening regional adaptive capacity and resilience is vital to ensuring that the diverse communities, natural ecosystems, and built economies of the Pacific can continue to thrive despite the escalating challenges, shocks, and stresses of climate change and other environmental pressures.

“Recognizing their shared stewardship of the Pacific and the opportunity to strengthen economic resilience through inclusive regional cooperation, the governments of California, Fiji, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati, and Weno endeavor to work together — and with other Pacific jurisdictions and partners — to advance climate adaptation and build long-term resilience. To that end, the jurisdictions intend to cooperate on a range of shared priorities to ensure the well-being, safety, and prosperity of our communities and ecosystems.

“Together, the jurisdictions intend to work towards sustained cooperation on our shared priorities.”

The three-day summit, which wrapped up earlier this month, established clear pathways for ongoing partnership, focusing on actionable solutions that can be scaled across island nations and coastal states alike.

“The Pacific region is at the frontline of climate change,” said Leah Laramee, Hawaiʻi State Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission (CCMAC) coordinator. “We are incredibly proud to lock arms with our international Pacific family. This joint statement transitions us from isolated island strategies into a powerhouse of shared solutions for a safer, more resilient future.”

For more information, please contact Bill Unruh, CCMAC climate outreach leader, at: [email protected].

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Media contact:

Ryan Aguilar

Communications Specialist

State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources

Phone: 808-587-0396

E-mail: [email protected]