Over the next 30 years, air-conditioning could increase global demand for electricity by the entire capacity of the US, the EU and Japan combined, unless there are significant improvements in the efficiency of the equipment, the IEA warned.

In a report released on Tuesday, the agency urged governments to use regulations and incentives to improve the efficiency of air-conditioning units, to avoid a surge in demand that could put strains on energy supplies and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Fatih Birol, the IEA's executive director, said: “This is one of the most critical blind spots in international energy policy.”

Air-conditioning has had an enormous effect on the quality of life in hot regions, but its use is unevenly distributed around the world. About 90 per cent of homes in the US and Japan have air-conditioning, compared with about 7 per cent in Indonesia and 5 per cent in India.

Electricity used for cooling in the US is almost as great as the entire demand for power in Africa.

Eoin Treacy's view

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There was a story a few years ago where world leaders were asked what the greatest invention of the 20th century was. Some said the electrical grid but the Prime Minister of Singapore said air conditioning. He opined that without it most people in the country would still be seeking shelter from the heat under the nearest tree.

In the tropics, which is where the majority of population growth is likely to occur over the coming decades, there is already evidence that the services sector is emerging faster than manufacturing, or at least concurrently. Availability of air conditioning is a major enabler for office work and factories but it also requires a substantial energy infrastructure.

Emerson Electric has been among the foremost builders of energy infrastructure internationally for decades and was among the original cast of Autonomies I compiled. The share has held a consistent step sequence uptrend over the last 2+ years and a sustained move below the trend mean would be required to question medium-term scope for additional upside.