DEBT'S CLIMATE LINK

The world faces an unprecedented debt crisis, which is exacerbating climate emergency in developing countries. As an unfit global financial architecture makes accessing finance more difficult for countries in the developing world, governments are left with the option of either servicing the debt or serving the people.

- SEHR RAHEJA and UPAMANYU DAS

$105,000. That's the cost of citizenship of Nauru, an island nation spanning just 21 sq km in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The low-lying island is issuing “golden passports” with the aim of raising money to fund climate action. Nauru is the world's third smallest country and its contribution to global greenhouse gases is estimated to be 0.01 per cent. Yet it faces an existential threat from rising sea levels, storm surges and coastal erosion as the planet warms. The government says it lacks the resources to protect itself from climate crisis and that selling citizenship will help raise the funds needed for a plan to move 90 per cent of the island's 12,500-strong population onto higher ground and build an entirely new community.

Nauru's “golden passport” initiative highlights the dual threats faced by many developing countries, home to 80 per cent of the global population. Amid the escalating climate crisis, these countries are grappling with severe economic and financial hardships. This is making them dependent on borrowings from foreign countries, creating a vicious circle that hinders ability to invest in climate resilience, adaptation and low-carbon transition, and is forcing the countries to borrow further for disaster recovery, mounting their debt burden.