Deloitte scraps report on climate change benefit for GDP

PRAGUE: Global accounting and consulting firm Deloitte said Friday it had withdrawn a report that had concluded extreme climate change would benefit a third of the world's economies over the course of the 21st century.

Published online by Deloitte's Prague office last week, the analysis said that countries in colder latitudes such as Canada, Norway and Russia "should benefit the most from rising temperatures." The Czech Republic's GDP, for example, would likely rise 25 percent by 2100 "in the fastest warming scenarios," according to a summary of the report.

In a statement obtained by AFP on Friday, Deloitte, one of the world's "Big Four" accounting firms, said it had withdrawn the report from its website.

"The unfortunate wording does not represent Deloitte's global viewpoint on the impact of climate change, therefore the report has been withdrawn and is no longer publicly available," the firm said in the statement. "Deloitte believes it's essential that everyone - from governments to businesses to NGOs and individuals - act to protect our planet," it added.

The findings of the report, based on the relationship between average annual temperatures and GDP, ran counter to most research on the long-term economic impacts of climate change.

Recent studies in peer-reviewed journals show the world economy taking a huge hit from global warming by century's end, shrinking up to 20 percent by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.