§226-109 Climate change adaptation priority guidelines. Priority guidelines to prepare the State to address the impacts of climate change, including impacts to the areas of agriculture; conservation lands; coastal and nearshore marine areas; natural and cultural resources; education; energy; higher education; health; historic preservation; water resources; the built environment, such as housing, recreation, transportation; and the economy shall:

(1) Ensure that Hawaii's people are educated, informed, and aware of the impacts climate change may have on their communities;

(2) Encourage community stewardship groups and local stakeholders to participate in planning and implementation of climate change policies;

(3) Invest in continued monitoring and research of Hawaii's climate and the impacts of climate change on the State;

(4) Consider native Hawaiian traditional knowledge and practices in planning for the impacts of climate change;

(5) Encourage the preservation and restoration of natural landscape features, such as coral reefs, beaches and dunes, forests, streams, floodplains, and wetlands, that have the inherent capacity to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change;

(6) Explore adaptation strategies that moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities in response to actual or expected climate change impacts to the natural and built environments;

(7) Promote sector resilience in areas such as water, roads, airports, and public health, by encouraging the identification of climate change threats, assessment of potential consequences, and evaluation of adaptation options;

(8) Foster cross-jurisdictional collaboration between county, state, and federal agencies and partnerships between government and private entities and other nongovernmental entities, including nonprofit entities;

(9) Use management and implementation approaches that encourage the continual collection, evaluation, and integration of new information and strategies into new and existing practices, policies, and plans; and

(10) Encourage planning and management of the natural and built environments that effectively integrate climate change policy. [L 2012, c 286, §2]