SM unit in talks to sell carbon credits

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SM Shopping Center Management Corp. (SCMC), operator of SM Supermalls, is currently in talks to sell carbon credits to a Spanish trader, a senior company official said yesterday.

SCMC president Annie S. Garcia said the company is now in talks with Endesa Carbono, a subsidiary of Spanish firm Endesa. Endesa Carbono, a partnership between US firm AHL Carbono and Endesa, is involved in the purchasing and consultancy services in the global carbon market. It offers expertise in the carbon market and draws on long experience in greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. “We’re now in talks with [Endesa Carbono] and they’re interested in buying carbon credits from us. We’ve just recently undertaken an evaluation and we found that (SM Supermalls) are qualified (to sell carbon credits),” Garcia told reporters in a briefing in Quezon City yesterday.

She noted that SM Supermalls was able to save a cumulative 67 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity from mall operations since 2007. The SCMC official, however, provide details on carbon credits were earned from these savings.

The SCMC official said the savings were realized from the company’s implementation of the Focus Enterprise Building Management System, a process which closely monitors the building temperature to “optionally balance supply versus demand for cool air.”

SM malls also make use of a device known as a batch reactor that saves up to 500,000 kWh annually.

“We’re just tying up a few loose ends. We’re not sure if we can start with [the scheme] this year. Maybe next year,” said Garcia.

The SCMC official said whatever the company earns from carbon trading will be reinvested in the “green initiatives” of SM Supermalls.

Endesa Carbono identifies in-house Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in countries where it is already present in the electricity sector, such as South Africa, the Maghreb, and other developing countries such as the Philippines and registers these with the United Nations.

Carbon credit sales as a way of limiting climate-changing gases like carbon dioxide is being implemented following the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and under a program administered by the Bonn-based CDM of the United Nations.

Under the program, businesses in wealthier nations of Europe and in Japan can buy the credits to help pay for scaling down pollution in poorer countries as a way of staying within government limits for greenhouse gasses emissions.

SM Supermalls undertake environmental programs as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.

For this year, Garcia disclosed that the company will be spending P50 million for its environmental initiatives for SM Malls, which include Waste Management Education and the Green Bag project.

As part of its “green initiatives,” the Sky Garden was recently unveiled at the SM North Mall, a roof garden that houses as much as 33 establishments that offer mostly grilled dishes served in an al fresco setting.

SCMC noted that a roof garden, with its minimal carbon footprint, is one of the most effective approaches to counteract global warming. Roof gardens, said the SCMC official, can reduce the effects of urban heat island effect and consequently reduce ambient temperature in Metro Manila.

SM has 34 malls spread all over the country and four in China.