Global warming will help Russian economy – US intelligence

Global climate change is supposed to contribute to Russian economy, according to Michael McConnell, director of US national intelligence. The US National Security Council has published a 100-page report titled ‘Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World’ that takes a long-term view of the future.

It is said in the document that by 2025 Russia’s profit from the rising temperatures on the Earth will be the largest of all the countries. One of the reasons is the expected lengthening of the sowing term, but the key factor would be an easier access to oil and gas fields in Siberia and in the North, including the Arctic shelf. This will be a great success for the Russian economy, according to the NSC report, and the Arctic waterway would also open huge prospects for Russia.

However, the authors of the study warn of the possible threats: the infrastructure of Russia’s Arctic territories may be destroyed, and also new technologies may be needed to exploit fuel fields in the area.

The report also noted that by 2025 China was likely to have the world's second largest economy, emerge as a major military power, be the largest importer of natural resources and the largest contributor to world pollution. India will have either the third or second largest economy and will press to become "one of the significant poles of this new world". As for Russia, it would also be part of that group, but only if it expanded and diversified its economy and then integrated into the world global economy, said McConnell.