Chair Schatz: $20 Million Heading To Hawai‘i To Support Native Hawaiian Climate Resilience Efforts

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, today announced that Department of the Interior (DOI) has awarded $20 million to bolster climate resilience in Hawai‘i. The new money from DOI’s Kapapahuliau Climate Resilience Program was funded through a Schatz-authored provision in the Inflation Reduction Act. Funding will be awarded to 17 Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs) to restore native ecosystems and plants and enhance food security while incorporating Indigenous knowledge and practices.

“Through the Kapapahuliau Climate Resilience Program, the federal government is directly funding Native Hawaiian-led climate solutions for the first time ever,” said Chairman Schatz. “This $20 million down payment – part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic investment in climate action – recognizes the critical role of the Native Hawaiian community in charting a path towards a sustainable, climate resilient future in Hawai‘i and beyond.”

Funding will be used to support efforts to help raise climate change awareness in the Native Hawaiian community, restore native forests and ahupua‘a-based communities, protect ancestral burials, and promote Native knowledge and practices, including loko i‘a and outrigger canoe paddling, among other things.

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