The Maui ESG Investment Project

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An Ahupua`a Perspective:
Environmental Care
Social Responsibility &
Good Governance (ESG) Investment

Ahupua`a Economic Models &

Integrated ESG Investment

for Global Impact

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Community Curated Impact Gauges:

Clarity for Investors & Stakeholders

THE CRISIS

Maui and Hawaii are experiencing the impacts of climate change, pressures on the natural environment upon which residents, native Hawaiians, and the economy depend, threats to food security and water resources, outflows of economic benefits off-island, and a lack of opportunities that can sustain families in the islands, while supporting their values and culture.

THE OPPORTUNITY

While institutional investors are increasingly identifying Maui as a high value investment opportunity, they have been slow to learn from Hawaii’s history of technological and social innovation. There is an opportunity for capital to be put to work on behalf of Maui’s natural and cultural resources, generating community wealth and a return on investment with ESG outcomes — in a manner that is replicable globally.

THE CHALLENGE

Hawaii residents recognize the need for long-term investment that will diversify the economy, nurture innovation, and prepare the next generation for the future of work. The community also recognizes the necessity of robust and reliable stakeholder-driven metrics that guide investment toward demonstrably positive social, cultural, environmental, and economic impacts.

Addressing the Challenges

On January 31 and February 1, 2020, the Ahupua`a Investment Summit brought together the local Hawaii and Maui community, leaders of impact investing from around the world, academics, thought leaders, native Hawaiians, union leaders, lawmakers, pension beneficiaries, large institutional asset owners, and other stakeholders.

The intention was not just to discuss impact and sustainable investing, but to work together on practical, comprehensive approaches for capital to begin flowing into Maui in a manner that supports the needs of the community in ways that are sustainable and innovative.

There was no charge for the Summit in order to ensure that community concerns were represented and that participants attended for the purpose of doing the work needed to create positive impacts. More than fifty percent of attendees were from Maui or other parts of Hawaii.

Click here for viideos of entire Day One summit panels and highlights from Day Two discussions.

Voices

The Ahupua’a model serves as a microcosm of what the entire planet requires to thrive and/or survive. Ahupua’a values recognizes that all things, whether physical, spiritual, intellectual or emotional are interconnected. Our health and well-being are dependent on the health and well-being of all things that encompass the ahupua’a.

These practices can and must be applied in the financial/investment world to reverse the unprecedented global environmental and humanitarian crisis that continues to accelerate resulting from unsustainable investments.

RANDY AWO, FORMER HI DEPT OF LAND & NATURAL RESOURCES, HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSIONER, ERS BENEFICIARY
Thank you so much for inviting me to the Ahupua’a Summit. It was truly inspiring, informative and unforgettable. (I also felt a bit like it was summer camp because of all the friends I made and how transformative it was after only 3 days!!)

This wasn’t like a regular responsible investment conference which is focused on incremental change of better data, more investors or more initiatives. The Summit really looked at what we would want the result to be — rebuilding from what can be possible – and involving all the people who need to have a voice.

MORGAN LAMANNA, SENIOR MANAGER, INVESTMENT ENGAGEMENT, CERES
UH Maui College welcomes the opportunity to host the Maui ESG Investment Project’s Ahupua`a Conference and community workshops …

Maui in particular is well positioned from a geographic, cultural, and policy perspective to fill a very significant market gap as a center for making, managing, and measuring ESG investments while also positioning our islands as a center of learning for those pursuing careers in impactful ESG investment.

LUI HOKOANA, CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I, MAUI COLLEGE
Pension funds are such levers but the connection between the beneficiaries and the funds are not always well articulated so that they can be levers for change – it’s mostly done in an academic or faceless context. Hearing from pension beneficiaries is, in my opinion, the most powerful catalyzer for vast sums of investment money to get redirected.

…Due to the smaller group setting than a large conference, the conversations were deeper. The setup of the Friday morning also stripped away barriers to allow for vulnerable, honest, respectful conversations rather than conference-face politically correct ones.

CHRISTINA BORSUM, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, NEW ENERGY NEXUS
The importance of taking a proactive stance to socially responsible ESG investing on Maui [is] very clear…

Bringing together institutional asset managers and owners with community stakeholders to discuss how to invest in Maui County in a manner that benefits our local community, protects natural resources, and produces a reasonable return for investors is a timely and important undertaking.

MICHAEL VICTORINO, MAYOR, MAUI COUNTY
Economic changes across the United States, coupled with a quickly evolving climate, and a needed update to the definition of responsible fiduciary responsibility, provide an important moment in time, to reassess how we can bring a values-based approach to the investments we make…

Seldom do we see a real opportunity to bring policymakers and the community alongside the private sector while these approaches are being crafted.

REHANA NATHOO, FOUNDER & CEO, SPECTRUM IMPACT
The people of Hawaii have long known that the key to appropriate economic development is to be responsive to the needs and interests of the people who live here, to be fair and just in creating high quality job opportunities for people of various income levels, and to keep capital circulating locally as long as possible to help build the capacity for community self-reliance.

MICHAEL KRAMER, MANAGING PARTNER, NATURAL INVESTMENTS

Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO Policy Director

Navigating the Storm of Climate Change and Inequality Panel

“We need to stop thinking about land and start thinking about people….The economies that succeed are the ones that invest in their people and that have strategies for making use of human capital in effective ways in the global economy.”

Maui ESG Project Phase II

Expanding Capacity to Connect Capital Deployment to Community Need

✓ Building on knowledge and relationships nurtured over the last year to develop actionable ESG business models.

✓ Emphasizing the “S” in ESG — social care — including addressing the impacts of COVID-19.

✓Developing opportunities for local control over or direct benefit from productive assets that build generational wealth.

✓ Developing opportunities for creating jobs that are not reliant on outside discretionary spending such as tourism.

Learn More About ESG Investment

Goals and Objectives

The Maui ESG Project will serve the following public purposes in 2020 and 2021:

✓ Supporting the successful deployment of capital for community needs by using an ESG/Ahupua’a investment framework in the development of new business models.

✓ Supporting increased economic diversification in a way that provides a foundation for the creation of good jobs in Maui County that adhere to Ahupua`a Values.

✓ Achieving replicable outcomes that help to position Maui County to become a financial and educational leader for the global advancement of effective ESG investment — a growing, multi-trillion dollar market — with integration of the Ahupua’a model.

Learn More About Ahupua`a Summit 2.0

June 30, 2021: Accelerating Climate Action & Economic Self-Sufficiency Through ESG Investment

Moderated by Maui County Council Vice Chair Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, panelists discussed Maui County’s Geographic Isolation as an Economic & Innovation Advantage, Native Hawaiian & Community Ownership of Assets, Investment & Funding for Community-Based Infrastructure & Renewable Energy

More Panels

Excerpt:

…The case study alleges that Trinitas has a history of making questionable sustainable investments, particularly when it comes to water.

According to the report, “Trinitas Partners and their affiliates have shown themselves to be masters of sustainable investment rhetoric, [but] the on the ground realities of their agricultural investments show a much more complex picture.” The case study outlines a deal that the partners executed in California, which converted land from vineyards and other crops into almond farms…

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$17.1 trillion

ESG integrated Assets under management at year end 2019

$2 billion

Outside investment committed to Maui in 2018

$18 billion

Total invested by Hawaii's Retirement System in 2020

2045

Deadline for Hawaii to reach 100% renewable energy

Ahupua`a Investment Project Goals:

Develop a blueprint for Maui to become a financial and educational leader for the global advancement of effective impact investing with environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration.
Create a framework for guiding significant capital investment into Maui and Hawaii in a manner that creates measurably positive and sustainable impacts as identified by the community.