Something You Plain Have to See — Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co
Saturday, February 6th, 2010Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded in the 1970’s and to begin with their focus was in leveraged buyouts. But they have set up a groundbreaking green proposal which concentrates not merely on how profitable a business is, but additionally on the environmental impact of the companies they acquire.
When Henry Kravis from KKR and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces a year ago green issues went mainstream. This coalition wants to tackle crucial issues impeding the environment, that include deforestation, toxic chemical use, monumental consumption of water resources, and hazardous waste. Eco-efficiency (a phrase first popularized by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) embodies their mission’s framework, applying techniques like reducing the waste of resources, waste reduction and optimizing data centers for efficiency. Efficient though it was the KKR and EDF did not see the full benefits of the project until the man in charge of the project, Ken Mehlman, assessed the program when it had been operating for a year.
Outdoing everyone’s expectations, Ken discovered that this program not only served in proctecting the local environment, but also increased the profitability of every last company as well. Well-nigh all of the companies owned by KKR and Ken Mehlman nowadays are actively participating in eco-efficiency principles. Considering that this group of companies has a net worth of $86,000,000,000, you can imagine what a challenge this really was.
The Green Portfolio project has developed beyond its basic purpose and nowadays includes new opportunities. To illustrate, KKR linked up with the EDF’s Climate Corps Program an organization that instructs interns taking a Master’s in Business Administration how to encourage cost-efficient, green techniques. Recently, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with KKR to formulate products that firms can use to measure and manage a number of resources. Tools like these can evaluate a company’s progress and discover any underlying problems.
Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made going green simpler for companies large and small. These fresh developments have set a high standard for companies in every sector and established that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
