This Caribbean nation is preparing for the ravages of climate change by selling citizenship

ROSEAU — After a Category 5 hurricane barreled through seven years ago, dumping 23 inches of water, shearing the roofs from homes, this Caribbean nation vowed to rebuild. To fund that expensive mission, it has leaned on an unconventional gusher of cash: selling passports.

Now, Dominica aims to become the world’s most climate-resilient island nation, without taking on dangerous levels of debt or waiting for the money that wealthy nations have so far failed to deliver. Instead, it has turned to wealthy individuals — often in China or the Middle East — who will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the privilege of obtaining Dominican citizenship, and in turn traveling more easily in the West.

Dominica’s program of selling citizenship goes back to the 1990s. But the program — mushrooming in size just before Hurricane Maria struck — has since outgrown the entire domestic tax base, becoming the primary source of national revenue. With citizenship money, Dominica has funded everything from new medical clinics to rent-free residential complexes for people whose homes were destroyed by the hurricane.