This has to be the weirdest business deal of the week: The Church of England just sold a chunk of forest-covered land on the Fijian island Vanau Levu for $8.8 million to the government of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati. For the moment, Kiribati plans to use its 20-square-kilometer (7.7-square-mile) plot for agriculture and fish farming. But the investment is really a fallback for its 103,000 residents\u201d\u201da place to live if they must leave their home island.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would hope not to put everyone on [this] one piece of land, but if it became absolutely necessary, yes, we could do it,\u201d\u009d president Anote Tong told the Associated Press, via the Guardian. Tong is awaiting parliamentary approval of the land purchase before clearing that possibility formally with Fiji\u2019s officials.<\/p>\n
Why is Tong preparing for a mass defection to an island 2,000 kilometers away?<\/p>\n