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FILTER FOCUS ‘Let empirical science drive our operational response’ Dr Iyad Al-Attar, IAQ consultant LICENCE TO CHILL The value of chiller specialists Dan Mizesko, LTC specialist Q&A AI, data centre cooling, refrigerant transition call for an integrated response Vic Shen, GM, TCL MEA EMPOWER DISTRIBUTES AED 437.5 MILLION IN CASH DIVIDENDS FOR H1 2026 DR YOUSIF AL HAMMADI IS NEW TABREED CEO October 2026 NEWS AFEC announces 3rd Edition of IAQ and filtration masterclass ASHRAE, UNEP renew partnership on sustainable refrigeration, air conditioning Copernicus reports second warmest September ever SODECA delivers microlearning session on ventilation solutions with dampers Vaisala introduces device for environmental monitoring in data centres US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ US$ PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ ccme.news/digital WHAT TO EXPECT OF COP31 POST-EVENT REPORTS ▶ CHILLVENTA 2026 ▶ Eurovent ME’s HVACR Industry Day conference (2 nd Edition) ▶ ISHRAE UAE’s TECHON 2026 A need for sustainable cooling to become a global survival priorityCo-Sponsored by Don’t just keep up — get ahead at AHR Expo.VOL. 21 NO. 10 OCTOBER 2026 18 20 22 24 16 12 www.ccme.news 3 REGULARS Regional News Global News eDItor'S note ‘My expectations of COP31’ Dr Rajendra Shende, Former Director, UNEP, citing broken climate promises, says sustainable cooling must become a global survival priority 06 FILTER FOCUS The filtration fiasco We pollute our global environment uncontrollably, yet we filter our indoor environments randomly, says Dr Iyad Al-Attar, independent IAQ and air filtration consultant LICENCE TO CHILL The value of chiller specialists Dan Mizesko, LTC specialist, on why they can deliver energy solutions OEMs often cannot Q&A ‘AI, data centre cooling and refrigerant transition are converging simultaneously’ Vic Shen, GM, TCL MEA, addresses the need for HVACR manufacturers to give an integrated response to delivering technological solutions 04 26 34 16281218 POST-EVENT REPORTS ▶ CHILLVENTA 2026 ▶ Eurovent ME’s HVACR Industry Day conference (2nd Edition) ▶ ISHRAE UAE’s TECHON 2026 Will delegates throw in the towel in Türkiye? Hope not! COVER STORYOctober 2026 4 C LIMATE veteran and Coordinating Lead Author of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC Report of 2007, Dr Rajendra Shende wears a dismal expression these days, as if weary of the lack of intent, of the hypocrisy and doublespeak swirling in the air. On the eve of COP31, in Antalya, Türkiye, he wryly refers to World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and recent UN assessments data to highlight how global warming has already breached the 1.5 degrees C threshold. His words in his article (see page 06) evoke shock, as if we didn’t already see it coming. “We are no longer defending a frontline,” he says. “We are desperately pulling back an active overshoot.” Of late, we are hearing more such notes of dismay. Going by their statements, it seems the earnest few are still willing to try to arrest climate change; at the same time, they are grimly preparing to shift their focus from mitigation to adaptation, from climate action to Total Cost of Ownership or preservation of assets. Sample this statement from a manufacturer of compressors, “Direct emissions, cost volatility and future policy uncertainty are all moderated by one discipline – tight systems and closed-loop refrigerant management.” Here’s hoping delegates do not throw in the towel in Türkiye. In another development, equally anthropogenic, supermarkets in France suffered a catastrophic failure of commercial refrigeration systems in the second week of October. It emerged that hackers meticulously sabotaged the country’s food supply system by remotely heating supermarket refrigerators to 50 degrees C. They were all severely impacted – Carrefour, Coopérative U and Intermarché. They all reported massive food losses – of having to dump tons and tons of fresh and frozen products, for they were no longer safe to consume. In financial terms, the losses ran to millions of euros. In psychological terms, the event creased foreheads, with worry-lines betraying anxiety over further such attacks. Their feeling was justified, considering that the hackers had targeted outdated refrigeration controllers to remotely trigger continuous defrost cycles. With ease. It’s all fine to lean towards IoT-enabled devices for a more connected cold chain, but what’s the point if devices are running vulnerable firmware. It’s the cybersecurity equivalent of trying to fill a leaking tub with water. Krishnan Unni Madathil Auditor, Bin Khadim, Radha & Co. Chartered Accountants, carrying out an analysis of the market, writes on business opportunities for the HVACR industry. Dan Mizesko LTC expert, writes on issues relating to chilled water systems, including operation & maintenance. Nabil Shahin Managing Director, AHRI MENA, writes on HVACR- specific regulation issues. Dr Iyad Al-Attar Independent air filtration consultant, writes on specific science and technology issues relating to Indoor Air Quality, including airborne particles. Angela Fandino Director, Energy Sustainability at Engineering Sustainable Futures, writes on engineering approaches, and business and financial models that enable a green urban ecosystem. Editor Surendar Balakrishnan surendar@cpi-industry.com Associate Editor Karu Suren karu.suren@cpi-industry.com Online & Social Media Abdul Hakeem marketing@cpi-industry.com Design Head Ulysses Galgo design@cpi-industry.com Webmaster Chris Lopez chris@cpi-industry.com Editorial Assistant Arushi Menon features@cpi-industry.com Advertising Enquiries Frédéric Paillé +971 50 7147204 fred@cpi-industry.com Deep Karani Our representative in North America +1 365 885-6849 deep.karani@cpimediagroup.com Database/Subscriptions Manager Purwanti Srirejeki purwanti@cpi-industry.com Published by Founder, CPI Media Group Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Co-Founder & Commercial Director Frédéric Paillé fred@cpi-industry.com EMPANELLED COLUMNISTS Co-Founder & Editorial Director Surendar Balakrishnan surendar@cpi-industry.com Head Office PO Box 13700, Dubai, UAE Web: www.cpi-industry.com Printed by: Wellpack Printing Press LLC, Ajman, UAE © Copyright 2026 CPI Industry. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein. Visit our website: climatecontrolme.com/digital Also available at Get the next issue of Climate Control Middle Eastearly! Surendar Balakrishnan Editor @BSurendar_HVACR Will delegates throw in the towel in Türkiye? Hope not!www.ccme.news 5 Sadrudin Damji OBITUARY S ADRUDIN DAMJI, Founder and Former Owner of HASTE Trading LLC, passed away on September 26, 2026. Damji founded HASTE in 1982 exclusively to provide Maneurop (France) compressors to the UAE market, laying the foundation of a company, which the current management said has continued to grow and serve the HVACR industry for more than four decades. Since its inception, the company expanded its portfolio to be the UAE’s exclusive supplier of such brands as Danfoss (Denmark), AKO (Spain), Weiss Instruments (USA) and GOMAX Capillary Hoses (Italy). Damji’s vision was to ensure seamless availability of all HASTE products. It was the cornerstone of his mission statement of the company, “To be the leading supplier of international, high-quality refrigeration industry products in the UAE market." Although the ownership of HASTE later changed, the management said, his contribution will always remain an important part of the company’s history and legacy. The foundation he established, the management said, continues to be carried forward with respect and gratitude. HASTE Trading LLCOctober 2026 6 PERSPECTIVE N OWADAYS, discourse on UN climate conferences hardly starts with positivity. But this one is an exception, because my observation finds that though the world community is dangerously torn in a geopolitical divide, when it comes to hosting climate conferences, it seems to be showing exemplary cooperation. The start of this article may strike you as utopian in the midst of an uncontrolled climate crisis and doomsday scenario. Let us step back into 2019 to understand what I mean. History remembers when civil unrest in Chile, the designated host of COP25 – and its venue, Santiago – threw the event into jeopardy. Spain eventually came to the rescue through providing a last-minute physical home for the event, while Chile maintained climate- political command. It was like making duplicate keys to unlock the climate conundrum, with Chile handing over one set to Spain. That unexpected, trans-Atlantic "Chile-Madrid" hosting alliance now has a historic twin in COP31, taking place in November 2026. What began as an unyielding geopolitical deadlock between Türkiye and Australia has now evolved into the most radical administrative experiment in United Nations history. Instead of arriving at a single victor, the two rivals aiming to host the event, chose a joint future: Türkiye will handle the venue and global action agenda, while Australia will steer the diplomatic negotiations. It is a bold, untested blueprint, proving that even in a fractured world, the sheer necessity of climate diplomacy can still force global competitors to share the stage. The key issue, however, is whether such exemplary cooperation would also prevail in taking action on the climate crisis, needed right away. Let us get the facts straight, first on the planetary threat and then on the recent story of broken promises, made since the momentous Paris Agreement, during COP21. From Le Bourget to Belém, which bode ill In 2015, the world celebrated the landmark Paris Agreement. I was there to listen to delegates of 196 nations (195 countries + EU), who vowed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees C, and ideally pursue efforts to restrict it to 1.5 degrees C. To achieve this, as stated by the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), which was published just before COP21, delegates were well aware that global emissions needed to plummet by nearly 45% by 2030 and by 100% by 2050. Come 2026, and the writing on the wall makes for dismal reading. According to the Emission Gap Report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world is completely off-track in its resolve to control emissions. Instead of plummeting, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise relentlessly and are breaking records year after year, steering humanity toward a catastrophic trajectory. To dig up the past, at the Rio Summit in 1992, when UNFCCC was born, the GHG emissions from anthropogenic sources were 32 gigatonnes. At the time of the Paris Climate Agreement, they grew to 48.5 gigatonnes; and now in 2026, they stand to cross 54 gigatonnes. That tells the story of the scale and speed of humanity's plunging failure. Promises gallop, but their realisations tumble. The target of tripling the total annual climate finance to developing countries to USD 300 billion and aiming for at least USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035 from public and private sources came to be established at COP29 in Baku in 2024. COP30 in Belém, in 2025, even focused on operationalising and building out the roadmap to deliver that target. Though there is still about a decade to go to meet that timeline, the targets remain trapped in the ambit of voluntary initiatives. The USD 100 billion annual climate finance promise, made a decade ago, was chronically delayed. As per an OECD report, efforts led to meeting 80% of the amount in 2025. Deceptively, it was achieved through a combination of public and private financing and not as grant financing, which was needed as per the COP21 decision. A massive deficit in mitigation and financial promises has now been overshadowed by trust deficit! Dr Rajendra Shende is the Former Director of UNEP; Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC 2007 Report, which won the Nobel Peace Prize; IIT Alumnus and the Founder of Green TERRE Foundation. He may be reached at <shende.rajendra@gmail.com>. Dr Rajendra Shende , citing broken climate promises, says sustainable cooling must become a global survival priorityOctober 2026 8 PERSPECTIVE State of the planet: The existential abyss While diplomats will routinely debate text formatting in Antalya, Türkiye, the impact indicators of humanity’s failure are flashing red. Data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and recent UN assessments reveal that global warming has already breached the 1.5 degrees C threshold in recent multi-month sequences. We are no longer defending a frontline; we are desperately pulling back an active overshoot. We are trapped in a series of extremes: The wildfires, at one end, and the Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GOLF), at the other; cloudbursts and floods, at one end and droughts and water scarcity, at the other. Add to that air pollution and biodiversity collapse… if all these are not aspects of an existential abyss, what then is? The threat of runaway climate disasters is asymmetric but universal: While low-lying Pacific Island nations face literal erasure from the map due to rising sea levels, major G20 economies are facing a severely escalating public health emergency, threatening macro-financial instability and crumbling infrastructure. Humanity is fundamentally outrunning its own biological and economic adaptability. Having got first-hand experience as head of an implementing agency (UNEP) of a multilateral environmental agreement, as Senior Expert in the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) of the Montreal Protocol, and as Coordinating Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), I expect COP31 delegates to arrive in Antalya with two priority issues that appear ‘out-of- the-box’, but are needed as last-ditch efforts for survival. Action on mitigation is economically beneficial First, there is an urgent need to make the world realise that taking action on Net Zero (making anthropogenic GHGs zero) is economically beneficial, with other multiple much-needed advantages. Electricity produced by solar energy is now 90% cheaper than that produced by fossil fuels and even by hydropower. Solar panels help in providing shelter to field animals and help grow crops that fade in hot weather. Solar panels can even collect atmospheric water, thereby helping increase forest cover, which in turn, gives clean air and improves human health. EVs help not only reduce emission but also noise and air pollution. Technology is essential, but then so is training. There is a need to strengthen the global movement of making university campuses living laboratories to skill the students for a Net Zero future. Cooling is a human right – a survival ‘straw’ Second, while long-term efforts towards Net Zero continue, sustainable cooling is an immediate and dire need for a bed-ridden warming world. The global climate conversation is trapped in a dangerous paradox. The planet is already baking in the oven. And we are required to bend the emission curve while exposed to the oven temperature. We are treating a high fever with long- term lifestyle changes while denying the patient much-needed ice packs. The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights states that the ‘right to life’ is fundamental. Sustainable Cooling is that right to life. Cooling is no longer a matter of luxury or comfort; it is a fundamental pillar of human survival. Consider the compounding crises of a warming PRESENTS THEME: Incorporating District Cooling as a strategic asset in greenfield and brownfield developments; meeting rapidly growing cooling demand through sustainable solutions 13 TH EDITION 06 JANUARY 2027 CHENNAI, INDIA OFFICIAL BROADCAST TV CHANNEL OFFICIAL PUBLICATION ccme.news/digitalNext >