Climate change

Nauru Sells Passports to Fund Relocation From Rising Sea Levels

Published FEB 26 2025

Story

Above: Coral reef on the beach in Nauru. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Facts

The Pacific island nation of Nauru announced a citizenship-by-investment program on Tuesday, selling passports for $105K each to fund the relocation of its 13K residents threatened by rising sea levels.
VnExpress International
The Manila Times
The Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program offers successful applicants visa-free access to 89 countries, including the UK, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong.
guardian
Caledonian Record
Nauru's government projects earning $5.7M in the program's first year through approximately 66 successful applications, with aims to increase revenue to $43M through 500 applications, representing nearly 20% of total government revenue.
France 24
EuroNews
The first phase of the mass relocation project is estimated to cost more than $60M, with officials projecting that 90% of the population will eventually need to move to higher ground.
RFI
Bloomberg.com
A previous attempt by Nauru to sell passports ended in controversy in 2003 when citizenship was granted to al-Qaeda members who were later arrested in Asia, prompting officials to implement stricter vetting procedures for the new program.
EuroNews
IFLScience
Scientists have measured sea levels rising 1.5 times faster than global averages around Nauru, while approximately 80% of the island's 21-square-kilometer ((8-square-mile) landmass has already been rendered uninhabitable due to previous phosphate mining.
France 24
The Manila Times

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The citizenship program is an innovative solution for climate-vulnerable nations to secure their future independently, providing a sustainable funding source for critical adaptation projects while offering legitimate investors valuable global mobility benefits.

SBS News

Global Residence Index

Narrative B

The golden passport scheme poses significant risks for criminal exploitation, money laundering, and security concerns, while potentially undermining international efforts to maintain passport integrity and border security.

Bloomberg.com

UNODC