Making the transition to a low-carbon economy has the potential to unlock $US26 trillion ($36 trillion) in benefits by 2030, while failure to act on climate change will trigger huge costs including a surge in refugees, a report co-authored by Britain's Lord Nicholas Stern has found.

A separate report written partly by Canberra-based researchers argues global coal use has peaked and nations such as Australia must prepare for lower exports of the fuel. Local coal-fired power stations will also likely close earlier than forecast, it said.

Lord Nicholas Stern, a leading climate economist, says renewable energy sources "have their own momentum". Credit:AAP

The twin reports come as Angus Taylor, the new federal energy minister, this week said Australia had "too much intermittent" power in its grid. He warned energy companies "we'll force you to divest" assets such as AGL's ailing Liddell power station in order to keep old plants running, in comments made to 2GB.

In the New Climate Economy report, Lord Stern and other authors found ambitious climate action could generate 65 million new jobs through 2030 as nations moved to cut emissions from energy, land use and other industries.