Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded in the 1970’s and to begin with the company’s main business was in highly leveraged transactions. Pushing further, hoping to make their portfolio of companies greener and more profitable to boot, KKR have set up a unique green proposal that has entirely changed the way business concerns and environmental agencies carry on their day-to-day business.
When Henry Kravis from KKR and the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces only a year ago environmental issues in the business world became major discussion topic. They wanted to fight many serious environmental matters, that include hazardous waste, toxic chemical use, extreme water consumption, and toxic waste.
Eco-efficiency (a term initially promoted by the WBCSD) is the method applied to achieve these aims, by utilizing environmentally friendly policies like optimizing data centers for efficiency, fuel economy and increasing the durability of products. Although the program was an enormous success, managment just did not understand how far reaching the results were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the project and global public affairs, carried out the first annual review. Ken found that the project was not just cutting environmental impact, but in addition it was helping to save a large range of companies a remarkable sum of money. These days, KKR and Ken Mehlman have managed to get well-nigh all of their firms actively participating in eco-efficiency techniques. Still, when you consider that the group has a 2009 business portfolio worth eighty-six billion USD, you can be sure this was no easy see what a massive accomplishment this is. The original project has developed far beyond its original remit and now encompasses new opportunities. For instance, KKR got together with the EDF’s Climate Corps Program which instructs students taking a Master’s degree in Business Administration how to introduce cost-efficient, earth friendly practices. What is more, Ken Mehlman has cooperated closely with KKR to develop analytic tools that companies can use to quantify and manipulate assorted resources. Systems such as these let employees see how environmentally friendly they are and identify any underlying issues.
Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund truly are visionaries in the world of green business. Their innovations have made decreasing their environmental impact less problematic for companies in every sector and shown the world that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.