Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency wins Climate Leadership Award
Kealoha Fox accepts the award on behalf of the City from Jeff Mikulina and Carmela Resuma.
Photo: UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series
HONOLULU — The City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency (CCSR) has received the 2026 Government Climate Advocate Award at Climate Hawaiʻi’s third annual Climate Leadership Awards.
The award recognizes a nonprofit organization or county or state government agency that has made a significant impact in decarbonization, climate or energy equity, resilience, climate education or community engagement.
“Being recognized with the 2026 Non-Profit or Governmental Climate Advocate Award is a testament to the power of local solutions creating meaningful impact,” said Dr. Kealoha Fox, chief resilience officer and executive director of the Resilience Office. “The dedicated public servants who have shaped the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, past and present, are helping translate vision into action—advancing mitigation, adaptation, equity, and resilience across Oʻahu. We are honored to have that work recognized and are committed to building a healthier, more resilient future for our home.”
Two Resilience Office team members were also separately nominated for Climate Leadership Awards: Alexander Yee, Coastal and Water Program Manager, and Kotone Springer, a former 2026 Summer Sustainability Intern.
The five award recipients were Professor Maxine Burkett, Farm Link Hawaiʻi, Normal Lab’s Airform heat pump, Waipahu senior Kotone Springer, and the Resilience Office. A panel of experts in climate science, sustainability, and leadership selected the winners.
“Hawai‘i has remarkably innovative climate leaders across all sectors working toward an equitable, clean, climate-resilient future,” said Jeff Mikulina, executive director of Climate Hawai‘i. “Climate Hawai‘i works to connect, leverage, and amplify the efforts of these individuals and organizations throughout the islands. Our awards are intended to spotlight those who are making extraordinary strides in accelerating our clean energy and climate-resilient future.”
In 2016, Oʻahu voters overwhelmingly approved creating the Resilience Office, making Honolulu one of the first local governments in the nation to establish an office explicitly dedicated to addressing climate change and resilience.
Since then, the office has worked to incorporate climate resilience into how the City plans, invests, and serves communities across Oʻahu. Its work connects climate action with issues residents experience every day, including affordability, housing, food security, public health, disaster preparedness, and economic resilience.
The Resilience Office has also established long-term systems to ensure climate considerations are incorporated into City decision-making. Among its major initiatives, the office has:
- Developed the City’s first comprehensive climate and resilience planning documents, including the O‘ahu Resilience Strategy, Climate Action Plan, Climate Ready O‘ahu, Long-Term Disaster Recovery Plan, O‘ahu Food Systems Action Plan;
- Created the Annual Sustainability Report to publicly track progress and provide accountability;
- Led the development of Climate Change Design Guidelines for City capital improvement projects;
- Convened the City’s One Water Panel to coordinate climate-resilient infrastructure planning across agencies;
- Helped establish the Climate Resiliency Fund—providing a permanent source of local investment for resilience projects and initiatives.
Together, these efforts have created a lasting framework for incorporating climate resilience into City policies, projects, and investments while strengthening O‘ahu’s ability to prepare for and respond to changing climate.
For more information about the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, visit resilientoahu.org.
—PAU—
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