Hawaii youth share climate solutions with lawmakers at summit

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Keiki, teens and young adults gathered Saturday at the Capitol Rotunda for the Youth Climate Summit.

The summit was hosted by the Hawaii State Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission and the Climate Future Forum to bring youth leaders to the capitol to engage with legislators and talk about their solutions for community issues.

Organizers hope events like these continue to spur on youth involvement in politics.

“You know, adults, we’ve been a part of the problem for so long and many adults are trying to be a part of the solution, but we also need the youth,” said Bill Unruh, Climate Outreach leader. “The youth want to be involved in their future, and that’s why, that’s what this is about.”

Participants also had the chance to share ideas to help bring youth perspectives into policy.

Student Navarro Dondur co-founded the Haumana Youth Sustainability Coalition and is launching their first conference this year.

“This conference will be a chance for youth from all sorts of clubs across Hawaii to come together and collaboratively set our priorities for the year to pursue together in a network where we support one another to reach these goals,” he said.

Around 120 people showed up to Saturday’s summit, marking the largest turnout in the last five years.