Revisions to the Climate Advisory Team’s Policy Paper
By Climate Advisory Team
The Climate Advisory Team (CAT) has released an updated version of its policy paper on climate disaster resilience, recovery and funding. The following revisions were made:
Section 3.1: The Hawai’i Disaster Recovery Fund is now allocated $100 million annually, and the Hawai’i Climate Resilience Fund is now allocated $275 million annually.
Section 3.2.3: Revised critical systems spending from $55 million to $53.5 million per year.
Appendix E: Reorganized the use of proceeds for the Hawai’i Disaster Recovery Fund proposed structure into two categories: Environmental Resilience and Community and Infrastructure Resilience.
The CAT also incorporated very helpful expert feedback from the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DLNR-DOFAW) regarding the CAT’s proposed spending for the fortification of natural makai and mauka. DOFAW’s proposed adjustments to spending are based on the fact that the mauka watersheds have more area, current organizational capacity and direct conservation actions that can be taken. Additionally, they noted that mauka work is often recommended as the main action to protect coastlines and reefs from sedimentation. With DOFAW’s feedback, the following revisions were made:
Section 3.2.3: Now assumes $13.75 million, rather than $27.5 million, is spent annually on protecting priority coral reefs, beaches, dunes and fishponds in areas vulnerable to storm surge. This now allocates $41.25 million, rather than $27.5 million, to be spent on forest and watershed protection. The cost per acre of mauka watershed protection was adjusted to $2,000/acre, which is the present value per acre cost calculated in published studies of conservation sites.
