Financing Climate Mitigation and Resilience: Lessons from Hawaii

The document details Hawaii's approach to climate resilience through the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), highlighting its use of non-traditional underwriting to democratize clean energy for low-income residents and renters. It discusses specific projects, such as the Kahauiki Village microgrid and the Kahuku Point coastal restoration, as models for combining mitigation and adaptation. The briefing also argues for the National Climate Bank Act to scale these models federally, noting that while mitigation is easier to finance due to cash flows, adaptation requires more innovative financial structures to address unpriced positive externalities.

• Green banks act as dedicated finance institutions that connect clean energy projects with capital, specifically targeting projects that are otherwise "unfinanceable project in the eyes of the private sector."
• The proposed National Climate Bank Act, if capitalized with $35 billion, is estimated to generate over $1 trillion in total investment for a new clean power platform.
• Financing for climate adaptation is more difficult than mitigation because adaptation projects, such as seawalls, often provide "non-priced positive externality" rather than quantifiable cash flows that lenders require.
• The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) uses a "Green Energy Money Saver On-Bill program" (GEMS) that employs non-traditional underwriting, ignoring credit scores and debt-to-income ratios to increase access for vulnerable populations.
• The Kahauiki Village project demonstrated community resilience by using a microgrid to provide all energy needs for 30 families and several facilities for five months while the project was not yet connected to the utility grid.
• The Kahuku Point project on Oahu has restored seven acres of dune habitat and seen the return of albatross after decades of absence, utilizing a mix of state, city, and federal funding including the state Legacy Lands Program and the U.S. military's compatible use buffer zone.
• Hawaii's Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission aims for carbon neutrality by 2045 and is currently assessing climate-induced risks to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and pension funds.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). Financing Climate Mitigation and Resilience: Lessons from Hawaii. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_032020.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Financing Climate Mitigation and Resilience: Lessons from Hawaii. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_032020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Financing Climate Mitigation and Resilience: Lessons from Hawaii |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_032020.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020financing, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Financing Climate Mitigation and Resilience: Lessons from Hawaii}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_032020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }