SM supermalls spearheaded a “Green Conference” yesterday among tenants, contractors, suppliers and employees at the Cinema 2 of SM Marilao in this town.

SM’s North 2 Region malls, SM Center Valenzuela, SM City Marilao and SM City Baliwag gathered environment advocates and government representatives as resource speakers on its theme “Green Retail Agenda: Moving Towards Sustainability,” which focused on current climate issues and how businesses can promote opportunities for environment conservation.

Provincial solid-waste management coordinator and ecosystem management specialist Neneth Gurion discussed climate change and its adverse effects, while the best practices on solid-waste management was presented by Jerome Evangelista, committee chairman of the Baliwag Environment and Natural Resources Office.

Participants were also briefed about water and energy conservation through the “Innovative Rainwater Harvesting System” presentation of Antonio Mateo, a multi-awarded inventor.

Practices on green architecture were presented by Environmental Development on Education Network Dhel Pulanco, wherein a discussion on green designs and use of green materials was emphasized.

Dennis Martel, mall manager of SM City Marilao, gave an overview of SM’s environmental projects under the SM Cares program, like the Trash to Cash Recycling Market, Switch to CFL Program, Green Film Festival and Biofuel Seminar.

In another development, Greenpeace Southeast Asia launched on Monday its three-week Water Watch project inside the Angat watershed area to highlight the urgent threat to the country’s water resources.

Angat Dam in Bulacan supplies 97 percent of the water needs of Metro Manila residents.

Mark Dia, Greenpeace deputy campaign director for Southeast Asia, said their project will gather data on precipitation, evaporation rates, temperature and water levels at key points of the Angat basin.

Dia said, “Greenpeace believes that we need to fundamentally improve the way we manage our water resources. We are, therefore, challenging presidential candidates to place water issues as a priority agenda should they be elected to office….We are calling on the candidates to commit to implement water-protection measures and climate-hazard mapping during their first 100 days in office.”

Greenpeace noted that the rapid reduction of Angat Dam’s water elevation to critical levels comes surprisingly after the overwhelming deluge brought on when typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng battered Luzon in September and October last year, a turnaround that starkly illustrates the country’s vulnerability to the worst impact of climate change.