Green Business — Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. And the Environmental Defense Fund
When Henry Kravis and George Roberts founded Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the 70’s with the help of the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s main business was in “bootstrap” buyouts. However, they have established a unique green proposal which centers not simply on how much profit they can make, but also on the ecological impact of the companies they purchase.
Environmentally aware business processes became a hot topic last year when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. They intended to campaign against a number of key issues impeding the ecology of the earth, including toxic chemical use, hazardous emissions, enormous water consumption, and soil contamination. Eco-efficiency (the phrase was first pitched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) is the procedure leveraged to achieve these targets, by using ecologically friendly policies such as fuel economy, reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals and reducing the intensity of materials. Impressive though it was the businesses involved did not even realize the entirety of the program’s benefits until Ken Mehlman, the head of the project and global public affairs, reviewed the project when it had been up and running for its first twelve months.
Capping everybody’s expectations, Ken discovered that this program not only reduced ecological impact, but was increasing the profits from all their business organizations besides. Just about all of the firms affiliated to KKR and Ken Mehlman nowadays participate in the Green Portfolio Project. Yet, when you consider that the group has a 2009 business portfolio worth $86,000,000,000, you can be certain that this was no easy see what a tremendous achievement this is.
The initial Green Portfolio project has developed beyond its basic purpose and nowadays encompasses new and innovative enterprises. For example, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co joined the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program which teaches interns studying for a Master’s degree in Business Administration how to introduce cost-efficient, green practices. Furthermore, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co to formulate a package of products that firms can utilize to quantify and oversee a number of resources. This type of data is invaluable as companies may without much effort evaluate their day-to-day operations and find out where they can resolve any issues while at the same time permitting them to discover their environmental impact.
Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are true pioneers when it comes ecologically sound business practices. So, to summarize, the work of these organizations has made green business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their radical ideas are setting a new standard in today’s world.
