Hawaii law aligns state with Paris climate pact

A new law in Hawaii formally aligns the state with the greenhouse gas reduction goals of the Paris climate change agreement.

Gov. David Ige (D) signed the law in a Tuesday ceremony, saying Hawaii is the first state to put its commitments to Paris into legislation and pass it.

“Hawai‘i is committed to environmental stewardship, and we look forward to working with other states to fight global climate change. Together, we can directly contribute to the global agenda of achieving a more resilient and sustainable island Earth,” Ige said in a statement.

{mosads}“The Hawai‘i State Legislature understands the importance of taking action, and I applaud its work this session to ensure that we continue to deliver the island Earth that we want to leave to our children,” he continued.

The legislation came almost a week after President Trump announced his intention to pull the United States out of the Paris pact.

The agreement’s emissions reductions were not binding and it did not impose any specific requirements on individual U.S. states.

The new Hawaii law creates a state commission to explore strategies the state could adopt toward climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It also formally states that the goals of the Paris pact are also the state’s goals, including keeping global warming at or below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, increasing the ability worldwide to adapt to the consequences of climate change and making financial flows align with low-greenhouse gas goals.

Ige also signed a bill Tuesday to form a task force to study how agriculture and aquaculture in Hawaii can help sequester carbon dioxide.