Lala Nuss, Climate Resilience and Equity Manager at Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resilience states that Hawaii lacks the data needed to characterize the links between environmental hazards and structural inequities. Though diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and asthma disproportionately impact Native Hawaiians in ways that could be linked to environmental hazards, these connections haven’t been clearly made. What is clear is that native Hawaiian communities are more likely to live near environmental hazards (Caulfield 2020).
Hawaiian state agencies have also failed more broadly to collect and track accurate data on Native Hawaiians and the programs intended to serve them (despite the passing of Act 155 in 2014 which codified a commitment to policy that eliminates health disparities by identifying and addressing social determinants of health). Native Hawaiians have also lacked input in decision-making around data collection processes and in determining how data is used (Kauahikaua and Pieper-Jordan 2021).
Caulfield, Claire. 2020. “Is There Environmental Racism In Hawaii?” Honolulu Civil Beat. June 15, 2020. https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/is-there-environmental-racism-in-hawaii/.
Kauahikaua, Lilinoe and Seanna Pieper-Jordan. 2021. “Improving Hawai‘i’s data policy to better serve Native Hawaiians.” Hawai’i Budget and Policy Center and Papa Ola Lokahi. /https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef66d594879125d04f91774/t/60514869451e1d09b75e4317/1615939719621/Data+Justice+Report_Interactive.pdf.
