When Henry Kravis and George Roberts founded Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the seventies with the support of the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s specialization was in highly leveraged transactions. Recently they have put together a remarkable enterprise which concentrates not only on maximum profit margins, but in addition on how environmentally aware each of the corporate entities in their portfolio are. Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co’s Henry Kravis and the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged in 2008, with the goal of making green business practices an accepted idea. The coalition wanted to fight some important green issues, for instance global warming, deforestation, immoderate consumption of water resources, and toxic emissions. In order to attain these goals, they utilize a methodology known as eco-efficiency; this uses techniques like improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance, maximum use of renewable resources, and reducing the intensity of materials. Although the project was an enormous success, no-one realized how far-reaching the consequences were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, finished the first annual review. Ken who graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1988, has served as field director for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, was appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in 2007, is, moreover, a trustee of Franklin & Marshall College and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and currently serves as a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, the executive leadership cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation, and the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy, observed that the project was not only helping to conserve the local environment, but it was also saving companies a significant amount of money, making the program virtually an immediate success. Virtually all of the companies linked with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman nowadays are actively participating in eco-efficiency principles. Still, when you consider that the group has a 2009 business portfolio valued at 86,000,000,000 dollars, you can be sure this was not an easy achievement. The original program has developed far beyond its original remit and today encompasses new initiatives. To illustrate, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co linked up with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program that instructs MBA students how to encourage cost effective, green practices.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have been creating analytic tools and other related systems that have the ability to quantify and administer various resources. Products like these can assess a company’s progress and identify any areas that might need to improve. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made going green easier for business organizations in every sector. Their innovations have made reducing their environmental impact easier for business organizations in any industry and demonstrated that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.