The carbon tax may be all but dead, but a global plan for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change has found Australia could overhaul its fossil fuel dependent energy supply and cut emissions to zero by 2050 without trashing its economy.

The project is being carried out by researchers in 15 countries and lead by globally renowned economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs, with an interim report delivered to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon overnight on Tuesday.

Project leader: Jeffrey Sachs. Credit:Angela Wylie

It plots specific measures for the world’s 15 largest economies, including China, India and the US, to cut their emissions quickly and deeply enough to meet an international agreed goal of limiting warming to two degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Modelling for the Australian section found it was technically possible for the country to cut its emissions to zero by 2050. It found gross domestic product would still grow by an average 2.4 per cent a year over the same period.