Mālama ‘Āina. Kia’i ‘Āina. Aloha ‘Āina. (Care for the land. Defend the land. Love the land.)

Kalālapa Winter is one of 13 youth plaintiffs in Hawai‘i that turned to the courts with the support of Our Children’s Trust to assert their rights to a safe and healthy climate and ask their government to embrace its kuleana (responsibility) as a trustee for future generations by decarbonizing Hawai‘i’s transportation system.

They asked their government to embrace its kuleana (responsibility) as a trustee for future generations by meeting the state legislature’s goal to decarbonize Hawai’i’s economy and achieve a zero emissions transportation sector by 2045. Hawai’i’s leadership heard youth voices, and responded, backed by the judiciary.

June 20, 2024, in a joint press conference with Governor Green and Hawai’i Department of Transportation Director Edwin Sniffen, youth plaintiffs and their attorneys announced the first constitutional climate settlement of its kind in the world.

The Settlement Agreement in Navahine v. HDOT confirms that youth have constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment and that the state of Hawaiʻi has an obligation to protect youth’s interest in a stable climate.