On Thursday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that at least two category-three hurricanes may form in the Atlantic this year. An article published on Monday by the Guardian drew attention to the imminent hurricane season that affects the US and the Caribbean every year. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Dominica has been systematically preparing to withstand category-five hurricanes for two years.
The small Caribbean island was severely affected by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit pledged to make it "the world's first climate-resilient nation". Instead of rebuilding on flat shores, the government relocated some of the population to higher ground and has built public homes that abide by the Build-Back-Better code. This is known as the Housing Revolution and is fully funded by the island's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. By allowing highly vetted individuals and their immediate relatives to obtain its valuable citizenship, Dominica is able to fund many resilience-building initiatives. A US$16.5-million investment has been made from the CBI Programme to kickstart the construction of a 7MW geothermal plant that would provide almost all Dominicans with clean energy, with potential to export it to neighbouring countries. This would help halve reliance on fossil fuels, thus slightly reducing the warming atmosphere that exacerbate hurricane development in the Atlantic.
Local businesses were instrumental in helping sustainably recover the natural surroundings and supporting local communities post-Maria. Hotels and resorts in Dominica are focused on ecotourism and built within nature, displaying climate resilience in hospitality at its best. All ecotourism resorts and hotels operate under Dominica's CBI Programme. For a share worth at least US$200,000, a reputable foreign investor could receive the island's citizenship, which the Financial Times ranks as the best in the world.
Marine health is also high on Dominica's priority list. It banned all single-use plastic, instituted three marine reserves and systematically educates about marine environment. Despite being in good health in Dominican waters, coral reefs natural buffers for hurricanes are said to disappear almost entirely if water temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius. Scientists claim local solutions are temporary and that water temperatures must be tackled globally.
CS Global Partners is the international legal advisory mandated by the Government to promote the Citizenship by Investment Programme worldwide.
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