Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations — and getting smaller all the time as sea levels rise — is offering citizenship to applicants ready to shell out $105,000 for “golden passports” it calls “climate resilience citizenship.” Nauru’s population is around 11,000 and shrinking.
It’s the third-smallest of all nations; only Vatican City and Monaco are smaller.
The government hopes to eventually sell 500 citizenships to produce enough revenue to enable the country “to secure a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come,” President David Adeang told AFP.
That may prove a tricky goal, since phosphate mining that continued until the resource ran out in the 1980s, has left 80% of the island uninhabitable and infertile; only a narrow band along the coast can sustain agriculture.
It’s fascinating to see how a small island nation is exploring unconventional solutions to major challenges. The idea of using citizenship programs to fund climate resilience raises important questions about survival,adaptuon and the future of vulnerable communities! Thanks for sharing!