Sinking nation for sale? Nauru offers citizenship for ₹91 lakh to fund survival

Pacific microstate Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas, President David Adeang told AFP, opening a contentious "golden passport" scheme as other climate financing runs dry.

The low-lying island nation of around 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as creeping seas start to eat away at its fertile coastal fringe.

It will drum up funding by selling passports to foreigners for US$105,000 each, despite fears such schemes are ripe for criminal exploitation.

"For Nauru it is not just about adapting to climate change, but about securing a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come," Adeang said.

"This is about more than survival. It is about ensuring future generations have a safe, resilient and sustainable home. We are ready for the journey ahead."

The island republic sits on a small plateau of phosphate rock in the sparsely populated South Pacific.

With a total landmass of just 21 square kilometres (eight square miles), it is one of the world's smallest nations.

Unusually pure phosphate deposits -- a key ingredient in fertiliser -- once made Nauru one of the wealthiest places, per capita, on the planet.

But these supplies have long dried up, and researchers today estimate 80 percent of Nauru has been rendered uninhabitable by mining.

What little land Nauru has left is threatened by encroaching tides -- scientists have measured sea levels rising 1.5 times faster than global averages.