Scientific Journal Retracts Climate Change Study, Cites ‘Substantial’ Issues

Original article here

The scientific journal Nature has retracted a paper published in April 2024 that overestimated the economic effects of climate change and influenced central banks worldwide to create risk management scenarios.

The article predicted a 62% drop in worldwide economic output by 2100 if carbon emissions were to continue without reduction.

On Wednesday, the three scientists who worked on the study retracted it, citing “substantial” issues with the paper.

The climate study’s findings were undermined by an article published by a separate team of economists earlier this year in Nature, calling into question problems with the data for Uzbekistan that skewed the climate study’s conclusions.

According to the New York Post, if the numbers for the Central Asian nation were excluded from the data set, the projected economic decline of 62% would actually be a far less catastrophic 23%.

The problem is that the faulty numbers, which was nearly 3 times typical estimates, had generated headlines and excitement among policymakers around the world including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank.

The study was also used last year, to model the expected impact of climate change by the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).

The NGFS is a worldwide network of central banks and financial supervisors with more than 150 members across nearly 90 countries.

Members of the NGFS include the People’s Bank of China, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England – and, until earlier this year, the Federal Reserve.

The climate study’s authors, Maximilian Kotz, Anders Levermann and Leonie Wenz of the Potsdam Institute in Germany, reviewed and amended their paper over the summer in light of the discrepancy and the retracted the study after acknowledging that their errors were “too substantial for a correction.”

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) pointed to the retraction as cause for celebration, saying, “Climate alarmism died today.”

Climate alarmism died today

We should celebrate https://t.co/2JXI41nor8

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 4, 2025

According to Nature, the study’s authors plan to revise and resubmit the paper.