Protecting the Planet — Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Make it Simpler for Us All
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts in the mid seventies with some assistance from the First Chicago Corporation. More recently, hoping to make the companies they take over more environmentally aware, they have set up an unusual green proposal that has totally transformed the method by which business concerns and environmental activists operate.
KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces a year ago, with the mission of making green business practice an accepted concept. The coalition intends to help resolve some critical environmental issues, which include water pollution, soil contamination, inordinate water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Eco-efficiency (a term originally coined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) is the formula leveraged to achieve these targets, through utilizing green policies like fuel economy, waste reduction and reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals. Effective though it was the companies who were involved did not grasp the scope of the program’s advantages until Ken Mehlman, the person in charge of the Green Portfolio Project, reviewed the project when it had been operating for a year.
Ken who practiced environmental law for Akin Gump Stauss Hauer & Feld, has also served as field director for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, managed the 2004 re-election campaign for President Bush and currently serves as a member of the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Council on Foreign Relations Climate Change Task Force, found that the project wasn’t only reducing their impact on the environment, but in addition it was helping to save business concerns a considerable sum of money. At the time of writing, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have succeeded in getting nearly every associated company involved in the Green Portfolio Project. And, with a 2009 portfolio worth 86 billion dollars, you can be sure that this was not a simple feat. The initial program has now expanded to encompass new and innovative enterprises. For instance, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co got together with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program that instructs MBA students how to promote cost-efficient, green techniques.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to formulate metrics and other related systems that can manage resources. With this information available, companies may easily measure their daily activities and ascertain exactly how they can improve while at the same time permitting staff to find out how much they have advanced. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to become more environmentally friendly. These developments have simplified the process for businesses in any industry and shown the world that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
