Going Green — with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Setting an Example
24 October 2009Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was established in the mid seventies and to begin with their main business was in highly leveraged transactions. Recently they have launched a unique green project that concentrates not solely on maximized ROI, but additionally on the ecological impact of the companies they control.
When Henry Kravis from KKR and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together in 2008 green issues went mainstream. Large issues like hazardous emissions and outrageous water consumption rank high on their list of objectives.
Eco-efficiency (a phrase first promoted by the WBCSD) is the formula leveraged to achieve these goals, by using techniques like using clean energy, fuel economy and reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals. Although the project was an enormous success, managment simply didn’t recognize how incredible the results truly were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the program and global public affairs, looked at the first year’s figures. Ken Mehlman observed that eco-efficiency wasn’t only reducing their ecological impact, but additionally it was saving a broad range of businesses a great deal of money, making the program almost an instant hit. Nearly all of the businesses connected with KKR and Ken Mehlman today apply eco-efficiency. Still, when you consider that the group has a 2009 portfolio with a worth of 86,000,000,000 dollars, you may be certain this was no easy feat.
The Green Portfolio project now includes new ventures. To illustrate, KKR got together with the EDF’s Climate Corps Program a venture which teaches MBA interns how to promote cost efficient, planet friendly principles.
Moreover, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with KKR to develop metrics and other related systems which firms can employ to quantify assorted resources. Tools such as these let employees to track their progress and discover any areas that might need to be focused on. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made reducing their ecological impact more attractive for business organizations large and small. So, to summarize, these systems have made green business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their revolutionary ideas are setting a new standard in the high-pressure business world of today.
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