ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2019 -38
URGING THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I BOARD OF EDUCATION TO MANDATE CLIMATE CHANGE CURRICULUM IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
WHEREAS, Hawai‘i has maintained a consistent policy, community, and cultural actions to protect our environment and address climate change; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, Hawai‘i was the first state to set a one-hundred percent renewable energy standard as the most aggressive clean energy goal in the nation; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, Hawai‘i also led the nation in enacting legislation to align with the Paris Accord; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, Hawai‘i became the first state to ban pesticides containing chlorpyrifos to protect the health of our children, and the first in the world to ban sunscreens containing chemicals harmful to our coral reefs; and
WHEREAS, Hawai‘i, as one of the most isolated island communities in the world is susceptible to climate change impacts in weather change, sea-level rise, and natural disasters that can affect critical infrastructure and local economy; and
WHEREAS, a global forecast of sea-level rise is an average of 1.8mm per year, but Kahului, Maui forecast is higher at 2.1mm a year; and
WHEREAS, more than 70 percent of Kaua‘i’s and Maui’s beaches have been affected due to chronic erosion over the last century, according to the U.S. EPA 2016 report on “What Climate Change Means for Hawai‘i;” and
WHEREAS, climate change is a borderless and intergenerational crisis, with diverse and far-reaching impacts across the globe and human activities are irreversibly changing the environment in which we exist requiring immediate and collective action on climate change; and
WHEREAS, climate change is a complex challenge that spans local, regional, and global impacts and will require diverse problem-solvers from scientific, cultural, and civic perspectives to seek relevant solutions; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement have identified education as a key component of the global response to climate change; and
WHEREAS, careers that help address solutions to climate change are strongly STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics); and
WHEREAS, Hawai’i leads the nation in the proportion of STEM jobs that require a postsecondary degree (96 percent) according to a 2018 Georgetown University report on STEM education and workforce; and
WHEREAS, the Maui Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs adopted this resolution at its annual Council convention held on Maui in July; forwarding the same to the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs to be considered as a resolution submitted by the Maui Council of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 60th Annual Convention in Lahaina, Maui, in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau, this 16th day of November 2019, urging the State of Hawai‘i State Board of Education to mandate climate change curriculum in all public schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that climate change curriculum in Hawai‘i public schools be mandated no later than School Year 2021-2022; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that climate change curriculum be included in the Hawai‘i State Department of Education’s 2030 Promise Plan under School Design where “Students will be immersed in excellent learning environments that are thoughtfully designed around community’s power to contribute to a thriving, sustainable Hawai‘i; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Hawai‘i State Board of Education Chairperson, Hawai‘i State Department of Education Superintendent, City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency Chief Resiliency Officer, University of Hawai‘i Director of Sustainability, and CEO of the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all county mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau on the 16th day of November 2019, at the 60th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Lahaina, Maui.
Hailama V. K. K. Farden, President
