Hawaii Outlines $100M Climate Change Spending Plan

New Green Fee Advisory Council selects projects to fund from over $2 billion in requests

Published on Feb. 11, 2026

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The new Green Fee Advisory Council in Hawaii had to choose from over $2 billion worth of funding requests to help the state respond to climate change, but will only have around $100 million annually to recommend through the first statewide tax of its kind in the country, which has been collecting revenue since January 1. The Council made recommendations to fund 29 environmental stewardship projects, 32 climate resilience and hazard mitigation projects, and 14 sustainable tourism projects across the islands.

Why it matters

Hawaii is the first state in the country to implement a statewide tax specifically to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. The new Green Fee is expected to generate around $120 million per year, providing critical resources to help the islands prepare for and respond to the growing impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

The details

The Green Fee Advisory Council received over 600 funding requests totaling more than $2 billion. Their recommendations include $1.5 million to track and publicize how the Green Fee revenue is being spent across three mandated funding buckets: environmental stewardship, climate and hazard resilience, and sustainable tourism. The Council's recommendations cover a wide range of projects, from native forest restoration and coral reef monitoring to flood early warning systems and wildfire risk reduction programs.

  • The Green Fee went into effect on January 1, 2026, increasing the state's transient accommodation tax by 0.075% to 11%.
  • The Green Fee Advisory Council announced their funding recommendations on February 11, 2026.

The players

Green Fee Advisory Council

A 10-member volunteer council tasked with recommending how to allocate the new climate change tax revenue in Hawaii.

Gov. Josh Green

The Governor of Hawaii who signed the 'Green Fee' into law in 2025 as a new statewide tax to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

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What they’re saying

“No other state has put in place a visitor impact fee. Being able to really transparently show the impact is going to have some follow-on effects probably beyond our shores.”

— Jeff Mikulina, Chair, Green Fee Advisory Council (thegardenisland.com)

“We have to admit that a lot of this was born out of the tragedy.”

— Jeff Mikulina, Chair, Green Fee Advisory Council (thegardenisland.com)

What’s next

The Green Fee Advisory Council's recommendations will now go to the Hawaii State Legislature for approval as part of the state's budget process.

The takeaway

Hawaii's new Green Fee represents a pioneering approach to funding climate change adaptation and mitigation at the state level, providing a model that other states may look to emulate as they grapple with the growing impacts of a warming planet.