Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / CCSR Executive Director Dr. Kealoha Fox on the City's Annual Sustainability Report

Transcript

CCSR Executive Director Dr. Kealoha Fox on the City's Annual Sustainability Report · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  Welcome to the One on Ahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa,
• 0:18
  and this week we're sitting down with Doctor Kealoha, Fox executive director
• 0:22
  for the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, or CCSR.
• 0:27
  Doctor Fox, thanks for making some time for us.
• 0:29
  Aloha, Brandy, it's great to be with you.
• 0:31
  And we're here because very recently, at the end of April,
• 0:35
  your office put out this year's annual sustainability report.
• 0:39
  For those who aren't familiar.
• 0:40
  What is the annual sustainability report and what is the city?
• 0:44
  Produce it every year.
• 0:45
  That's a great question.
• 0:47
  The annual sustainability report is what the city creates
• 0:51
  as our internal and external report card, if you will.
• 0:55
  It's our status check.
• 0:57
  We're able to measure a lot of different goals that we have.
• 1:00
  Year after year, we're able to share stories
• 1:03
  of where the city is meeting our sustainability goals.
• 1:06
  And then we're also able to present information where we know
• 1:09
  we need to continue to excel and execute to be able to do better.
• 1:13
  So I kind of think of it as it's our city's check in
• 1:17
  and we produce it every year.
• 1:19
  We submit it through city council and it is required in ordinance.
• 1:22
  And so we have not only the data and the research aspect, but we also do
• 1:27
  have the policy and internal systems change aspect to it as well.
• 1:31
  And this for folks. Maybe they'll go online.
• 1:34
  They'll take a look.
• 1:34
  It looks a little different than a traditional report.
• 1:37
  what's your advice for folks who want to navigate it.
• 1:39
  And check out the data in this year's report?
• 1:41
  I love this because I'm such a data person, I love numbers.
• 1:46
  I feel a lot of confidence when we can see where we're at
• 1:50
  and also where we're going.
• 1:51
  And so some of the features that folks like me are really excited
• 1:55
  about is one that it's web based and it's fully interactive.
• 1:59
  This city is modernizing a lot of our tools.
• 2:01
  One of the new tools we're bringing internally is called power BI.
• 2:05
  It's a software that allows you to interact with the data.
• 2:08
  So I was trained in a time where we would create these massive data
• 2:12
  reports for executives, for legislators, and they would be printed
• 2:17
  and they would be static, and you wouldn't be able to feel
• 2:20
  the difference between what would happen between 2020 and 2023 and then 2026.
• 2:27
  We can do that now.
• 2:28
  And actually, power BI is such a cool tool because you will see when you play
• 2:33
  with the interactive web based version of the annual Sustainability Report,
• 2:37
  you'll actually see the bars and the charts and the lines
• 2:41
  moving with you based off of what you're interested in.
• 2:44
  So if you're interested in looking at a specific year or
• 2:47
  if your specific department is what you want to focus in on.
• 2:50
  You can play around with the tool and you can use it to meet your needs.
• 2:54
  You can drop that information into your reports, into your publications.
• 2:58
  And then definitely a lot of people do reference
• 3:00
  the annual sustainability report for their presentations.
• 3:04
  Yeah, you mentioned the numbers.
• 3:05
  I know that this is built around data, but it also includes stories
• 3:08
  from across our community.
• 3:10
  So what kind of stories did you see and why is it important to look beyond
• 3:13
  just those numbers?
• 3:14
  Yeah.
• 3:14
  So data for us is a version of storytelling.
• 3:18
  And then we match that data with stories from our agencies, from the divisions
• 3:23
  that are doing this work firsthand, whether it's
• 3:26
  the Department
• 3:26
  of Transportation Services, the Department of Environmental Services,
• 3:30
  we take those stories, we match it with the data,
• 3:33
  and then we organize it into seven sections.
• 3:36
  The seven sections help to tell the stories around specific themes.
• 3:40
  So we have our sustainable city operations,
• 3:43
  clean transportation, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation,
• 3:48
  waste management, food systems and disaster resilience.
• 3:53
  So that really helps us anchor the story and the message that we want to tell,
• 3:58
  but it also helps us to track our action targets for us to think about
• 4:02
  where would we want to be this time in 2027
• 4:07
  and looking at this year?
• 4:08
  You know, you talked about the departments involved, the stories that are involved.
• 4:12
  What are some examples of success stories that you saw in this year's report?
• 4:17
  So every department in the city is a part of the annual sustainability report.
• 4:21
  And so even though the Resilience Office publishes it,
• 4:24
  we think of it as a collaborative effort.
• 4:27
  And so some of the great stories
• 4:28
  that you're going to see in this year's publication has reasons
• 4:32
  for optimism around are solar photovoltaic powering at city facilities.
• 4:37
  So that's, locations like our golf courses, parking lots,
• 4:41
  the Blaisdell Center and Arena rate, our skyline ridership has reached
• 4:47
  record levels with the support of heart transitioning over
• 4:50
  operations to the Department of Transportation Services.
• 4:53
  So that's highlighted.
• 4:55
  We have high recycling rates that N.v is tracking for us,
• 4:59
  and that's something that we care a lot about in the city, because it's not just
• 5:04
  how we're using some of the materials that we have, but can we reuse
• 5:08
  and recycle them so that we're making these systems much more efficient
• 5:12
  for what our consumption is?
• 5:14
  But then you're also seeing information like community preparedness.
• 5:17
  And so folks have really engaged in all alert.
• 5:20
  And so those are new data tools that we've been able to bring
• 5:24
  into this year's publication that you haven't seen in the past.
• 5:27
  And so we're thankful
• 5:28
  for the agencies for providing the data so that we make sure that the community
• 5:32
  and the end users have the information, just like I'm sharing with you now.
• 5:37
  But then on the flip side, those are success stories, right?
• 5:39
  Where are some areas where maybe we need more attention?
• 5:42
  So in the data and the stories that we're presenting in this year's publication
• 5:46
  of the annual sustainability report, there's two areas that I can highlight.
• 5:50
  Where we don't, we do
• 5:51
  we do need to do better
• 5:52
  in that we have projects and programs
• 5:53
  that are already headed in the right direction.
• 5:56
  So the first one is waste generation.
• 5:58
  We are producing and generating a lot of waste year after year, month over month.
• 6:03
  And so we know, that the amount of waste waste generated on Oahu is increasing.
• 6:09
  And so that's something that EMV does track.
• 6:12
  And that we've analyzed in terms of how do we ramp up waste reduction
• 6:16
  and how do we have new initiatives like our grow pilot program,
• 6:20
  where our green bins can now be used
• 6:23
  as pilots for composting in certain neighborhoods?
• 6:26
  And so,
• 6:27
  that's an area
• 6:28
  that we want to see much better, because food is a big part of the waste stream.
• 6:33
  And so food scraps and waste can be turned into compost.
• 6:36
  And that's really good for things like soil health.
• 6:38
  And so we have projects underway, even though even though we know
• 6:41
  the data is not exactly where we want it to be.
• 6:44
  The other area that we've been tracking, not only from a sustainability standpoint,
• 6:48
  but also public health and public safety, is, unfortunately,
• 6:51
  the high rates of traffic accidents that lead to fatalities.
• 6:55
  And this is something that all of our first responder agencies
• 6:58
  have been looking at through programs and policy changes.
• 7:02
  And we've seen that on the data side this year that traffic
• 7:05
  fatalities did increase in the year 2025.
• 7:08
  And when we break down that data, unfortunately,
• 7:11
  what that shows is the types of fatalities that are occurring,
• 7:15
  which include bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, pedestrians.
• 7:19
  So people that are just walking, trying to cross the street
• 7:22
  and then and the vehicle occupant, fatalities and so Oahu does have a Vision
• 7:28
  Zero action plan that was adopted by city council last year.
• 7:33
  And HPD, Dot and DTS are all working on safer roads together.
• 7:38
  It's a multi-agency effort so that we can better make initiatives
• 7:42
  for roadway
• 7:43
  safety across Oahu to try to address and decrease these traffic fatalities,
• 7:47
  because they're at numbers that we really haven't seen in previous years.
• 7:52
  Yeah.
• 7:52
  So I think when people hear the word sustainability, right.
• 7:55
  Annual sustainability report, the thing with Grow and Trash, it makes sense.
• 8:00
  Right. So how do we sustain our resources, what we have.
• 8:02
  But then when you talk about fatalities right.
• 8:04
  Sustaining really our population ourselves right bodies, humans.
• 8:08
  And so with those, you know, key points that you mentioned that need attention,
• 8:12
  how do you use that information to, you know,
• 8:15
  change and help guide future action here in the city?
• 8:18
  Yeah.
• 8:19
  Your description of sustainability is exactly how we look at it.
• 8:22
  So we're not just looking at environmental sustainability
• 8:26
  of our trash and our trees and the oceans.
• 8:29
  We're also looking at economic and social sustainability as well.
• 8:34
  And so that's why you're going to see a lot of the data can talk to each other.
• 8:39
  And the data can actually have co-benefits across many different areas.
• 8:44
  So what we have goals for in Cser
• 8:47
  is very linked to what HPD goals are.
• 8:50
  And H, Dot and DTS are as well.
• 8:52
  And so we feel like if we can invest and put our energy and our thought
• 8:57
  into these coordinated efforts, then everybody can make out
• 9:02
  with these gains in the end.
• 9:03
  And that's, I think, a really strong version
• 9:05
  of how local government is really ready to act.
• 9:08
  And we're really ready to move the dial.
• 9:10
  And then this is our report card to show
• 9:12
  how we're going to do it and to keep us accountable.
• 9:15
  When we look at traffic fatalities, for example,
• 9:18
  in the annual sustainability report, we know that the traffic fatalities
• 9:22
  have increased in 2025.
• 9:23
  And that data breakdown shows the type of fatalities from bike
• 9:27
  and moped motorcycles, pedestrian and vehicle occupants.
• 9:31
  I mean, some people don't always think of transportation and road safety
• 9:35
  as part of sustainability efforts, but we do at Cser
• 9:39
  and across our inter-governmental working groups.
• 9:41
  If people are seeing safety come up in the programs and initiatives,
• 9:45
  they're probably also more likely to use sustainable modes of transportation.
• 9:49
  And so we feel like those are areas where we can have co-benefits
• 9:53
  and mutual wins, not only for CCSR but across H, Dot and DTS and HPD.
• 9:59
  We can all have our gains and our goals really connected
• 10:02
  towards these efforts to protect people, but to also protect the environment
• 10:07
  and how much emissions that we're causing through the
• 10:09
  the modalities that we're choosing to use or not use.
• 10:12
  And so you take this information and then what happens to it,
• 10:15
  you know, do you meet with each department.
• 10:17
  And then you come up with a plan or where does it go from here.
• 10:19
  Yeah. So we do have intergovernmental working groups.
• 10:22
  We have strong relationships across the cabinet.
• 10:25
  And then one of the things that's new for CCSR is we are administering
• 10:30
  and helping to operate the city's new climate resiliency fund.
• 10:33
  So there's even funding potentially available for some of these initiatives
• 10:37
  to not just be talked about, but to be invested in
• 10:40
  And so that's something that you're going to start to see from our office,
• 10:44
  working across city directed projects and making sure that there's funding
• 10:48
  available that we recommend to the mayor and to the city council for us to adopt.
• 10:52
  Yeah.
• 10:53
  Doctor Fox, what's something you hope residents take away from this
• 10:56
  year's report?
• 10:57
  Well, for me, I just hope that residents are starting to take away
• 11:00
  that we're being very transparent and we're being very communicative.
• 11:04
  Not everything in the annual sustainability report is perfect.
• 11:08
  We are not meeting the mark in every single place yet.
• 11:12
  But this report card is a mark for progress
• 11:15
  so that we can continue in the right direction.
• 11:18
  And I hope that the public and the people that we work with
• 11:21
  see that this is our commitment,
• 11:23
  that if we're willing to share it and communicate it, you can
• 11:26
  you can see that we you can have trust and confidence in us
• 11:30
  and where we're going to go next for the next year.
• 11:32
  But it's also a way for folks to be able to be engaged
• 11:35
  and use the information and find the the spots that they would like us
• 11:39
  to pay attention to, because we have that web based dynamic tool
• 11:43
  for the very first time, folks might see comparisons that we didn't pick up yet.
• 11:47
  And so we would love for folks to get engaged.
• 11:50
  You can go to Resilient Oahu mortgage, get involved, contact us and reach out.
• 11:55
  And we would love to see some of the areas
• 11:56
  that you're noticing that you would love for the city to pay attention to.
• 12:00
  And that's the kind of information and conversations
• 12:02
  that CSD can help to lead and coordinate.
• 12:05
  Yeah, I love the call for input.
• 12:07
  It makes you feel like you really have a hand in it.
• 12:09
  But something else that your office announced within the last month or so
• 12:12
  is the city's draft Oahu Food Systems Plan.
• 12:16
  What do you hope folks do with that?
• 12:19
  Is there any kind of call to action here?
• 12:20
  I know that it's a draft plan.
• 12:23
  It is.
• 12:23
  It's a draft plan of the city's first ever Oahu Food Systems Plan.
• 12:27
  It's open for public comment from anyone through June 30th.
• 12:32
  What we're hoping is that every single person that cares
• 12:36
  about some portion of the food stream, we talked about food waste,
• 12:41
  but there's so much more.
• 12:42
  There's food production, there's procurement, there's the end users.
• 12:46
  But there's there also the growers and the producers and the farmers
• 12:50
  and ranchers.
• 12:51
  That's the aggregate of the food system that we're trying to really
• 12:55
  lead a vision and documentation for, for the city ahead.
• 12:59
  And so we hope one folks will take a look.
• 13:01
  But to take the time to really comment on the plan
• 13:05
  and share with us what are you seeing in your neighborhood?
• 13:08
  In your sector?
• 13:09
  Is is part of this food stream impacting your business or your school?
• 13:15
  We can help do something about it through a lot of different mechanisms.
• 13:18
  And what people will see is right now there's 71 actions.
• 13:22
  So there's a great place for us to start, but we need to help.
• 13:25
  No, through the public opinion, which of those mean the most to you
• 13:30
  and will make a difference to your school, your business or your family.
• 13:34
  And that's a perfect way for you to get involved.
• 13:36
  And you tell us where we should make some of those efforts count.
• 13:40
  Just tailing on that.
• 13:42
  In what ways has the damage from the recent
• 13:45
  Kona low storms affected the work of this office?
• 13:48
  I know your phones were probably ringing off the hook at the end of March.
• 13:51
  Well, I would say for every single person that worked, in the city,
• 13:56
  during that time, we were so dedicated to what was happening all across
• 14:00
  the island of Oahu, obviously in Waialua in Holly Eva, but also white and I in LA.
• 14:06
  Yeah, in Kaneohe there are so many communities,
• 14:10
  that have experienced these effects of floods and flash floods over years,
• 14:15
  but we have never seen a 500 year storm like that.
• 14:19
  And that's why data, like an annual sustainability report
• 14:22
  is so important is because climate change is creating conditions
• 14:26
  that we've never had to contend with, neither in our budget nor our operations.
• 14:31
  And so, yeah, the entire city, including Cser
• 14:34
  and the Department of Emergency Management and all of our first responders were
• 14:38
  so busy during the Kona lows.
• 14:40
  But what we try to message at Cser is so much more of this work
• 14:44
  that we could do, could be proactive and we could be preventative.
• 14:48
  So what are some of the programs and the initiatives
• 14:50
  that we need to put in place so that we can try to decrease
• 14:54
  some of the harms that happen to communities that do have flooding?
• 15:00
  They do have landslides.
• 15:01
  They do have streams that are overflowing.
• 15:03
  We have a lot of data that maps all of that.
• 15:06
  Environmental science on this island is very it's a very, very strong industry.
• 15:11
  What we need to do is start pairing
• 15:13
  all of this data with the initiatives of where we're going to take action,
• 15:17
  and CCS are very committed to doing that over the next few years.
• 15:21
  Not only will we do that through the annual sustainability report,
• 15:24
  and we'll do that through our collaborations, inter-governmental,
• 15:28
  but I think that we can do it so much better with the community.
• 15:30
  There's so many nonprofits, social service providers, small businesses,
• 15:35
  community based organizations that have really stepped in.
• 15:40
  And that's the beauty of community resiliency, right,
• 15:43
  is that if you can take care of your family
• 15:46
  and if there are neighbors helping neighbors,
• 15:47
  we know that the relief and the recovery efforts will be better for all.
• 15:51
  But at the city level, there's so much that we can do across the disaster
• 15:55
  management continuum,
• 15:57
  and that's what we're really focused on right now for our short term and long term
• 16:00
  recovery efforts.
• 16:03
  Another exciting
• 16:03
  announcement from your office recently was that
• 16:07
  the city will be joining Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund.
• 16:11
  Can you talk about that program?
• 16:12
  I am so excited about this program.
• 16:14
  I like can't even hold in my energy about it.
• 16:18
  So, the city and County of Honolulu was one of 300 global cities
• 16:23
  awarded by Bloomberg Philanthropies to launch this Youth Climate Action Fund.
• 16:28
  We are only one of five cities in the entire oceanic region.
• 16:32
  We're the only city in Hawaii that has been chosen.
• 16:35
  And so this will be the first ever inaugural fund that invests in youth
• 16:39
  projects and ideas for young people ages 15 to 24.
• 16:44
  And so they'll be able to take their ideas.
• 16:46
  Some of those that I talked about today, but make sure that they're youth led.
• 16:50
  We're working with our Honolulu Youth Commission to make sure
• 16:53
  that is really grounded in some of their priorities,
• 16:56
  will be able to take city plans and goals and actions, and invest
• 17:01
  about $2,400 each for these projects.
• 17:05
  We're going to have an open call for proposals happening
• 17:08
  probably towards the end of the summer.
• 17:10
  But right now it's a great time for schools and nonprofits.
• 17:14
  Who is and organizations to start to think about.
• 17:18
  We have these youth.
• 17:19
  They probably have volunteers.
• 17:21
  And if they wanted to do a project for, you know, 3 to 6 months,
• 17:25
  what supplies would they need, what equipment would help them
• 17:28
  reach their goals for their targets, and would they want to work with us
• 17:32
  in the city and with our youth commission to see some of these projects
• 17:35
  actually be invested in and completed?
• 17:37
  And so I'm so excited.
• 17:39
  We have goals that we want to invest in, probably 20 to 40 projects
• 17:44
  all across Oahu.
• 17:45
  And so we want to see every single district
• 17:48
  and all neighborhoods represented.
• 17:50
  And so you'll see a lot more and you'll feel a lot more from our office
• 17:53
  as we get the Youth Climate Fund up and going for the first time ever.
• 17:57
  Yeah.
• 17:57
  And I know you're a little closer to this than I am, but what kind of energy,
• 18:01
  what kind of ideas are coming out of these young people ages 14?
• 18:05
  I know that you've you know, you've gone to high schools here for the whole school.
• 18:08
  You've worked with our youth commissioners.
• 18:10
  What what are you getting out of them?
• 18:11
  You know what's so beautiful about young people's energy and ideation
• 18:16
  is that it's it's so many things relate to climate action for them.
• 18:21
  So we've heard a lot of information of youth
• 18:24
  are very concerned about fast fashion, and they're really concerned
• 18:27
  about the materials and the dyes and all of the waste streams
• 18:31
  that the clothes that we buy and wear each and every day.
• 18:34
  Or is that what they shot there? Yeah, yeah.
• 18:36
  So thrift shop and goodwill and like white
• 18:39
  elephant sales are so popular now.
• 18:42
  And we even have folks in our team like they go thrifting together.
• 18:46
  Maybe that'll be something
• 18:47
  that kids are can help work on with with some youth projects.
• 18:51
  Right.
• 18:52
  But then it's also things that, we have a lot of youth creativity
• 18:56
  and ideas around community gardens.
• 18:58
  The public loves our community gardens, and our Department of Parks and Rec
• 19:02
  have a lot of information that show that the public thinks
• 19:05
  we don't have enough community gardens for the new waitlist.
• 19:08
  The waitlist is very, very long.
• 19:11
  And so one of the areas that the youth are very passionate
• 19:14
  about is community gardens, but especially native plants.
• 19:17
  They want to see much more, of the plants that are grown here
• 19:21
  locally because they know that they're more sustainable.
• 19:24
  They're learning so much at a young age, whether it's middle school, high school,
• 19:28
  their early years of college, they know that if we take invasive
• 19:31
  trees and species, those are going to hurt the butterflies.
• 19:35
  They're going to hurt the birds.
• 19:36
  But if we plant native trees, it's probably going to last longer.
• 19:40
  It probably needs less water.
• 19:42
  And it probably relates to the entire sustainable ecosystem
• 19:46
  in ways that they've already been trained that a lot of us had to learn
• 19:50
  kind of after the fact.
• 19:52
  So those are just some of the ideas that we've already gotten from them.
• 19:55
  But it's everything. It's from markets.
• 19:57
  And with clay, it's a bridge to reef.
• 19:59
  There's so many ideas coming in.
• 20:00
  And yeah, like I said, we want to invest in maybe up to 40
• 20:03
  of these projects with the funding that we've been provided and that,
• 20:07
  we are going to be matching our investment with in the city.
• 20:11
  Yeah, you're right, that is exciting.
• 20:13
  Pretty hopeful too.
• 20:14
  Well, Doctor Fox, is there anything that we missed?
• 20:17
  I don't think there's anything that we missed, but I would love to
• 20:20
  just continue to share hope with the residents of the island of Oahu.
• 20:24
  I mean, we are your neighbors. Were your friends?
• 20:26
  Were your colleagues.
• 20:27
  And we are accountable for you as your government, municipal workers.
• 20:32
  I would just say that for me, I see the hope that progress is happening
• 20:35
  across many fronts and that many of us are taking the efforts
• 20:39
  that we need to do and for us to have a more resilient Oahu.
• 20:43
  These efforts, I think, create a clearer picture
• 20:46
  of where we can go in the immediate future.
• 20:48
  I think long term climate change and sustainability efforts of where
• 20:52
  we're going to be 100 years from now or 50 years from now tend to lose interest.
• 20:58
  People want to know, what can we do this cycle?
• 21:01
  What can we do in 1 to 3 years?
• 21:04
  That's exactly what the Resilience Office is committed to.
• 21:06
  And that's exactly what our administration is focused on.
• 21:09
  Well, thank you so much for your time.
• 21:11
  Thank you. Mahalo, Brandy.
• 21:13
  And for more information on any of the programs discussed today,
• 21:16
  or to take a look at this year's annual sustainability report,
• 21:19
  just head to Resilient oahu.org.
• 21:22
  Mahalo for listening. And until next time, Aloha.