Greenhouse gas emitted by these 2,440 potential plants -- on top of those already in operation -- would breach the UN target of restricting the planet's temperature rise, according to a mid-range estimate by Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a respected research group.
Members of the UN are striving for a pact to keep warming under two degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.
Even if no new plants are built, emissions from coal-fired power generation in 2030 would be about 150 per cent higher than they should be for staying under the 2C ceiling, said the CAT report, issued on the sidelines of the climate talks in Le Bourget.
"Renewable energy and stricter pollution standards are making coal plants obsolete around the world, and the earlier a coal plant is taken out of the planning process, the less it will cost."
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Cutting emissions is a core aim of 195 nations spending the next 10 days in Paris negotiating what is touted as a landmark post-2020 deal to roll back global warming.
Despite the need to phase out greenhouse gas pollution from the energy sector, many nations -- including the United States and European Union countries -- are planning to build new coal-burning plants.
The planned new plants -- along with existing ones which will still be running in 2030 -- would send global emissions some 400 per cent over the trajectory 2 C, according to the CAT report, compiled by four climate change research bodies.
The estimate is based on a middle-of-the-range scenario for emissions.
It said there are ways to increase coal use safely, but these would require large sums of money spent in the second half of the century on technology, including capturing and storing carbon emissions.
Doing so would add significantly to the cost of cutting emissions, raising questions of its viability.