Keiki o ka ‘āina (children of the land) in Hawai‘i turned to the courts to assert their rights to a safe and healthy climate and ask their government to embrace its kuleana (responsibility) as a trustee for future generations by decarbonizing Hawai‘i’s transportation system.

On June 1, 2022, 13 young people from Hawai’i filed a constitutional climate lawsuit against their state government and the Hawai’i Department of Transportation (HDOT).

They asserted HDOT’S operation of a transportation system resulting in high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions violates their state constitutional rights, impacting their ability to “live healthful lives in Hawaiʻi now and into the future.”

Children of Hawai’i are on the front lines.

It is a current crisis, and the children of Hawai’i are living on the front lines of climate disasters like sea level rise, wildfires, coral bleaching, biodiversity loss, and catastrophic storms. Roads and sacred ancestral burial grounds have been swept into the sea. People in Hawai’i have witnessed coral reefs die, beaches erode, and traditional practices like cultivating lo’i kalo (taro fields) and loko i’a (fishponds) threatened or lost.

The youth plaintiffs turned to the courts to assert their rights to a future in which they can live safe, healthy lives.

They asked their government to embrace its kuleana (responsibility) as a trustee for future generations by meeting the state legislature’s goal to decarbonize Hawai’i’s economy and achieve a zero emissions transportation sector by 2045. Hawai’i’s leadership heard youth voices, and responded, backed by the judiciary.

June 20, 2024, in a joint press conference with Governor Green and Hawai’i Department of Transportation Director Edwin Sniffen, youth plaintiffs and their attorneys announced the first constitutional climate settlement of its kind in the world.

 

 

 

Meet the Earthjustice team

To litigate this historic lawsuit, Our Children’s Trust joined forces with Hawai‘i’s premier public interest environmental law firm, Earthjustice. Together, we powered a youth-led, constitutional climate win, combining the vision of Hawai‘i’s forward-thinking constitution with the clarity of irrefutable climate science to defend the rights of Hawai‘i’s keiki and ‘ōpio to a livable climate.

The Settlement Agreement in Navahine v. HDOT confirms that youth have constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment and that the state of Hawaiʻi has an obligation to protect youth’s interest in a stable climate.

Filing Date

6/01/22

Judge

John M. Tonaki

Location

Honolulu, HI

Plaintiffs

13

Experts

10

Counsel

4

Co-Counsel

3

Defendants

4

Years in the making

13

I am so proud of all the hard work to get us to this historic moment. We got what we came for and we got it faster than we expected. Mai kuhihewa the power of young people to make a difference for their futures.

— Navahine F., Youth Plaintiff

Meet the youth plaintiffs

In Hawaiʻi, we are seeing true democracy in action for the first time on climate change. All three branches of government have committed to work together to do what needs to be done according to best available science, to protect young peoples’ constitutional rights.

— Andrea Rodgers, Deputy Director, U.S. Strategy

meet the legal team

Being heard and moving forward in unity with the state to combat climate change is incredibly gratifying, and empowering. This collaboration marks a pivotal step towards preserving Hawaii for future generations–one that will have a ripple effect on the world. I hope our case inspires youth to always use their voices to hold leaders accountable for the future they will inherit.

— Rylee Brooke K., Youth Plaintiff

meet the youth plaintiffs

The outcome of the case could not have been better. The fact that it’s a settlement gives us that go button to really make that process of intervention now happen.

— GREG ASNER, PH.D.

Meet the Experts

1

Transportation sector is largest source of GHG emissions in United States

1

Hawai'i is the most dependent state in US on petroleum for energy needs

215,800

pages exchanged in the form of filings and expert reports distilling decades of scientific research into understandable content

297,326

children under age 18 in Hawai‘i affected by HDOT’s actions, plus the generations yet to come

what’s next?

Support our youth climate leaders making history in our courts. Learn how we will power youth voices carrying the values of Mālama ‘Āina. Kia’i ‘Āina. Aloha ‘Āina. (Care for the land. Defend the land. Love the land.) across the country and world.

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