Honolulu committee hears annual sustainability report and 2025–2030 draft climate action plan; targets and data gaps highlighted

The Committee on Energy, Environment and Sustainability of the Honolulu City Council received a combined briefing on Oct. 14, 2025, on the city’s 2025 Annual Sustainability Report and the draft 2025–2030 Climate Action Plan (CAP). City staff described data showing a rising renewable share of Oahu’s electricity sales, stronger electric vehicle adoption, and areas where data or programs need strengthening to meet city targets.

The presentations were led by Kayla Hall Fox, deputy director of the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency (CCSR), Haley Cook, policy and research program manager (CCSR), Victor Limon, sustainability data analyst (CCSR), and Whitney Poliahu Dule, climate action plan coordinator (CCSR). The committee paused between the two briefings to take questions on each report separately.

The reports matter because they combine community engagement, policy targets and measurable indicators that guide department planning and capital projects. The CAP update sets near-term greenhouse gas and renewable-energy targets; the annual report provides a yearly stock-take of performance indicators that departments, the council and the public can use to track progress.

City staff described selected findings from the 2025 Annual Sustainability Report. Haley Cook said the report is the city’s seventh annual inventory and is available as an online dashboard with more than 40 performance indicators. Cook highlighted that, aside from new electricity demand associated with the Skyline rail system, city facility electricity use has declined about 20% since 2018, a trend Cook attributed in part to an energy savings performance contract led by the Department of Design and Construction.

Cook said island-wide progress includes a rising renewable portfolio: "It reached 38% of electricity sales on Oahu last year," she said, and rooftop solar accounted for a large share of that increase. She also noted rapid growth in electric-vehicle ownership, which the data show rose to more than 25,000 EVs on Oahu in the past year, a 22% increase from the prior year.

The report added several new datasets in 2025, Cook said: monthly bus ridership from Oahu Transit Services; a map of neighborhoods that are certified or in progress as Firewise communities; and, in the disaster-resilience section, counts of active National Flood Insurance Program policyholders and annual NFIP claim payouts — data the city said helps track its Community Rating System participation.

Council Member Tupelo noted a newly certified Westside Firewise community (Oct. 10) and suggested the Firewise map be updated as more communities are certified. Tupelo also urged the report and future work to distinguish waste diverted before incineration from material “diverted” via incineration, saying pre-incineration sorting can reduce ash and microplastic contamination of landfill waste.

Victor Limon, the report’s data analyst, told the committee that more precise annual data on waste composition are needed. "We have a 97% waste diversion goal that we have committed to," Limon said, and added the city needs updated waste-composition studies to understand how much food and other materials remain in the municipal solid waste stream and to design diversion programs accordingly.

The annual report also highlights non-targeted areas: local food-hub sales reached a record of more than $7.5 million last year, and Department of Emergency Management training reached more than 1,300 people, CCSR said.

Whitney Poliahu Dule presented the draft 2025–2030 Climate Action Plan. Dule said the CAP update is required every five years and expands coverage to include a consumption-based emissions inventory in addition to city operations and community inventories. The draft organizes work into five focus areas — transportation, community energy solutions, sustainable communities, food systems, and waste — and translates community input into 27 measurable city commitments.

Dule described the CAP’s community-driven process: kickoff in January 2025, a first draft in June, and public comment through October. She said community engagement guided plan priorities and that the CAP’s modeling indicates transportation and energy account for nearly 80% of Oahu’s emissions. The draft sets city-aligned numerical goals, including a target of 40% renewable energy by 2030 and a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, with 100% renewable energy and net-zero carbon by 2045 cited as longer-term policy goals.

Dule framed the CAP’s approach as linking emissions reductions to day-to-day priorities: lower bills, safer streets, stronger food systems and less waste. She said some benefits of the plan cannot be fully quantified immediately — for example, food-systems measures require improved data — but that modeling shows strong potential emissions reductions when city, state and federal actions are combined.

Committee members pressed staff on waste-diversion specifics and construction-and-demolition waste. Cook and Dule said the CAP and the annual report identify actions that target food waste and diversion at the point of generation; the offices will coordinate further with the Department of Environmental Services. CCSR staff noted that food waste will be accepted in the green bins beginning in 2026 (staff indicated April 2026), which will change diversion accounting and program implementation.

No formal council action or vote was taken; the presentations were informational. Staff said follow-up items will include deeper briefings on specific topics the committee requests — the presenters suggested food systems and electric-vehicle infrastructure as likely subjects for future committee sessions.

The city made multiple invitations for feedback: Cook asked members to review the online dashboard and offer suggestions for new goals or datasets for the 2026 report; Dule asked for follow-up deep dives with council and departments on specific CAP actions such as EV infrastructure and watershed management.

What’s next: CCSR will continue public outreach and incorporate public comments into the CAP final draft; the next annual sustainability report is planned for Earth Day 2026. Committee members indicated interest in further committee briefings that drill down into waste composition, food systems, and transit metrics.

Sources: Presentations and remarks by Kayla Hall Fox (Deputy Director, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency), Haley Cook (Policy and Research Program Manager, CCSR), Victor Limon (Sustainability Data Analyst, CCSR), and Whitney Poliahu Dule (Climate Action Coordinator, CCSR).