The Story of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and the Environmental Defense Fund
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was set up by Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts in the seventies with the help of the First Chicago Corporation. But just last year they have launched a unique enterprise which concentrates not only on how much profit they can make, but in addition on the ecological impact of the companies they acquire. Environmentally aware business practices became more widely accepted last year when Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Their corporate mission is to offer encouragement to companies in opposing environmental menaces such as global warming as well as intemperate water consumption.
To implement this, they employ eco-efficiency; this makes use of techniques like recycling programs, increasing the durability of products, and reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals. Regardless of the fact that the project was a tremendous success, no-one recognized how far reaching the consequences actually were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, carried out the first annual review. Ken Mehlman who graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1988, has also served as field director for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, became Managing Director and Head of Global Public Affairs at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LLP in 2008 and serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Climate Change Task Force, and the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy, noticed that practicing eco-efficiency was not only reducing their ecological impact, but it was also saving a diverse range of companies a remarkable amount of money. At the time of writing, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have virtually all of their companies taking part in eco-efficiency. If you consider that the portfolio has a value of 86 billion dollars, you may see what an enormous feat this is.
The Green Portfolio project is expanding to encompass new enterprises. The Climate Corps Program established by the EDF is one of these enterprises, it heightens awareness of planet friendly business techniques to students studying for a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Recently, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co to formulate a series of analytic tools which business organizations can employ to evaluate and administer different resources. Products like these allow employees see how they are impacting on the environment and identify any practices which might need improving. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made going green less painful for companies large and small. Their innovative developments have simplified the process for businesses in any industry and established that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.
