A major climate report will say coal-generated electricity must be phased out globally by 2050 if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global warming, including the total destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.

The report prepared by the United Nations body for climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, distils more than 6000 scientific references – including those from Australian researchers – and will outline the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The IPCC releases reports regularly, but the latest version – due out at midday on Monday – has been billed as one of its most controversial in recent years because it is expected to call for swift, unprecedented cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

A major climate report is expected to call for a global coal phase out by 2050. Credit:Rob Homer

The findings are likely to put pressure on governments around the world to prioritise efforts to decarbonise their economies. This includes the Morrison government, which is riven by internal tensions over climate change policy and has been condemned by supporters of the Paris climate agreement. Australia has vowed to reduce greenhouse emissions, based on 2005 levels, by 26 per cent before 2030.