The world subsidises energy consumption to the tune of more than $200,000 per second, with about 60 per cent of that going to support coal, according to researchers at the International Monetary Fund.

In a paper published by the IMF, the authors found that energy subsidies are much more than previously estimated. These will rise to $US5.3 trillion ($6.6 trillion) in 2015, or about 6.5 per cent of total global output.

For some developing nations, such as in the former Soviet Union and Pakistan, the subsidies approach 18 per cent of GDP.

About 80 per cent of the subsidies are the result of environmental damage from burning fossil fuels, with about one-quarter of that portion attributed to climate change impacts, the four IMF researchers led by David Coady said.