IPCC Corrects Claim Suggesting Climate Change Would Be Good for the Economy

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has corrected a controversial claim that small amounts of global warming could have overall positive economic impacts, after Bob Ward, policy and communications director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science, pointed out that it was based on inaccurate information.

The final version of the IPCC's report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was published without fanfare on the web this week, including a chapter on Key Economic Sectors and Services.

The final draft of the chapter, which was published in April, featured a section on the aggregate economic impacts of climate change, containing the statement: "Climate change may be beneficial for moderate climate change but turn negative for greater warming."

But the version published this week omits the statement because it was based on faulty data.

The statement had been inserted into the draft report at a late stage in the preparation process, and after it had been sent to independent reviewers, including Ward, for comment.

IPCC Corrects Claim Suggesting Climate Change Would Be Good for the Economy