Nauru sells passports to fund climate fight

Scheme started in Feb, six approved

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A remote Pacific nation has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island.

Pacific microstate Nauru, one of the world's smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “golden passports”.

Selling for US$105,000 (3.4 million baht) each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” programme.

Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals.

Despite the slow start — Nauru hopes to sell 66 passports in the scheme's first year — President David Adeang remained upbeat.