How Henry Kravis of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Works in Coordination with the Environmental Defense Fund
When Henry Kravis and his partner George Roberts established Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the seventies with some assistance from the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s focus was in bootstrap buyouts. Recently they have put together an innovative venture which concentrates not just on ramping up ROI, but also on how environmentally friendly each of their companies are.
Environmentally sound business practice went mainstream in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Their objectives include encouraging companies to resolve environmental menaces like hazardous chemicals and egregious water consumption. Eco-efficiency (the term was first propagated by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) denotes their mission’s framework, applying ecologically aware policies such as optimizing data centers for efficiency, reducing the waste of resources and waste reduction. Even though the project was a huge success, no-one realized how far-reaching the consequences really were until Ken Mehlman, the man responsible for the project, examined the first year’s profits.
Only at that point did Ken discover that eco-efficiency was not just cutting impact on the environment, but additionally it was helping to save businesses a considerable sum of money. Well-nigh all of the businesses affiliated to Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman now are participating in the program. Seeing that the portfolio is valued at almost 100 billion USD, you may see what a tremendous accomplishment this really is.
The original project now encompasses new opportunities. The Climate Corps Program established by the Environmental Defense Fund is one of these, it campaigns for planet friendly business techniques to interns taking an MBA. KKR and Ken Mehlman have taken the time to develop metrics and other relevant systems which will be able to administer resources. These systems permit management see how environmentally friendly they are and discover any underlying issues. The business community has been changed permanently by the pioneering work of these groups. These developments have made going green less complicated for businesses in any industry and illustrated that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.
