Ahmed Al-Attar, a pioneer of environmental journalism, passed away in end-February. Considering his young age, relatively speaking, it was an untimely death, robbing the regional and international communities of a voice that had objectively and tirelessly covered climate change issues. Al-Attar was not only a journalist but, as evidenced by several accounts on him after his death, was also a mentor of journalists, who profoundly trained several in the media on how to effectively cover the COP27 summit, which took place in his country, Egypt. 

Al-Attar was a media force during the recently concluded COP28 summit, as well. Interestingly, he participated in launching the first green space of the Earth’s Call platform, laying the foundation stone for his ambitious plan to prepare for COP28, which the UAE hosted. 

By several accounts, Al-Attar was ethical, polite, selfless, full of life and carried a positive outlook to evolving circumstances. These qualities manifested in the manner in which he covered environment-related issues and in his editorial output. His obituary appears in this issue; please do read it – by doing so, you would be paying homage to a one-of-a-kind man who dedicated much time to the cause of mitigating climate change. 

I earlier used the word, ‘ethical’ in describing him. It could be called tautology to do so, for journalists are expected to be unwaveringly ethical. And yet it is important to use the word in describing Al-Attar, for we live in times where it is tragically becoming increasingly normal to accept cash or gifts, in lieu of cash, in return for reporting on matters that anyway ought to be the focus of objective attention and dissemination. Equally tragic is the abominable practice of soliciting cash in return for handing out awards, diluting and effectively reducing what ought to be a noble act of recognising and honouring merit to a farce. 

While starting to write this homage, I did not intend it to be a diatribe against unethical journalism, but in his passing, there is an opportunity to reflect on the direction some quarters of an important institution like the media are taking, and to chart a new course that would see it regain the somewhat diminished sheen. Closer to home, there is a need to preserve objective journalism in covering the HVACR industry. It is about presenting the developments that shape our industry and their implications on the numerous sectors that benefit from the application of its technological solutions, in a fair and just manner. It is nothing short of mission-critical to do so.