Protecting the Planet – with Henry Kravis of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Setting an Example
Saturday, October 24th, 2009Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts in the 1970’s with the support of the First Chicago Corporation. But just a year ago they have assembled a unique green project that centers not merely on ramping up profit margins, but in addition on how environmentally aware each of the enterprises in their portfolio currently are. Green business practice became more generally adopted last year when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. They wanted to help resolve a few primary matters damaging the environment, which include global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, outrageous water consumption, and toxic waste.
Eco-efficiency (the phrase was first submitted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD) is the formula applied to achieve these goals, through applying environmentally aware policies like optimizing data centers for efficiency, recycling programs and improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance. Efficient though it was the KKR and EDF didn’t even understand the range of the program’s advantages until the head of the project and global public affairs, Ken Mehlman, evaluated the project when it had been in operation for a year. Topping all expectations, Ken realized that this program not only increased environmental responsibility, but also increased the profits from every business organization besides. Currently, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have virtually every business in their portfolio involved in eco-efficiency principles. If you think about the fact that this portfolio of business organizations is valued at $86 billion, you can see what a challenge this actually is.
The initial program now encompasses new opportunities. To illustrate, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co got together with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program an enterprise which instructs MBA students how to introduce cost effective, earth friendly principles.
Recently, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co to formulate systems that firms can employ to evaluate and oversee resources. These products can measure a company’s progress and discover any practices which may need improving. The business world has been completely changed by the efforts of these groups. These developments have made going green easier for organizations in any sector and shown that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
