Originally, when Henry Kravis and George Roberts established Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the 1970’s with the support of the First Chicago Corporation, their focus was in highly leveraged transactions. But going further, in the hope of making their acquisitions greener, they have set up a groundbreaking venture that has dramatically transformed the method by which businesses and environmental groups operate.
Green business processes went mainstream a year ago when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. Big green issues like hazardous chemical use and unmitigated water consumption are a priority in their company mission statement.
In order to accomplish this, they employ eco-efficiency, this uses down-to-earth techniques like increasing the durability of products, reducing the intensity of materials, and fuel economy. Although the project was a colossal success, people just didn’t realize how extensive the consequences were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, reviewed the numbers for the first 12 months. Much to everyone’s surprise, Ken saw that the program not only assisted in proctecting the local environment, but was increasing the the net profit from all their business organizations too. Nearly all of the companies affiliated to KKR and Ken Mehlman nowadays are involved in eco-efficiency techniques. Considering that this group of companies has a net worth of almost one hundred billion USD, you can imagine what a feat this really is.
The initial project has now broadened to encompass new opportunities. The Climate Corps Program established by the Environmental Defense Fund is an example of this, it advances cost-effective, green practices to MBA interns.
More recently, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with KKR to formulate a series of metrics and analytic tools which firms can employ to measure various resources. Systems like these let staff see how green they are and identify any practices that might need improving.
Today’s business community has been transformed permanently by the efforts of these people. These innovations have made decreasing their environmental impact less complicated for business organizations in any industry and shown the world that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.