The History of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and the Environmental Defense Fund
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was launched in the mid-seventies and to begin with the company’s specialty was in leveraged buyouts. Recently they have put together an extraordinary enterprise which concentrates not merely on how lucrative an enterprise is, but in addition on how environmentally aware each of their companies are.
Green business practice went mainstream in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. Issues like greenhouse gas emissions and unbounded consumption of water resources feature high on their agenda. In order to implement this, they deploy a methodology known as eco-efficiency; this involves concepts such as using clean energy, reducing the waste of resources, and optimizing data centers for efficiency. Efficient though it was the management did not even realize the totality of the advantages of the program until the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, Ken Mehlman, assessed the program when it had been up and running for a year.
Ken who received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991, has also served as legislative director to Texas 21st Congressional District Representative Lamar S. Smith, managed the 2004 re-election campaign for President Bush, is a trustee of Franklin & Marshall College and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and presently serves as a member of the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, discovered that practicing eco-efficiency was not just helping to preserve the local environment, but it was also saving businesses a great deal of money. These days, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have well-nigh every associated company taking part in eco-efficiency. And, when you consider that the group has a 2009 portfolio with an estimated value of 86 billion USD, you can be sure this wasn’t a simple feat. The original Green Portfolio project has now expanded to include new enterprises. The Climate Corps Program established by the EDF is just one of these, it campaigns for cost efficient, green procedures to students taking a Master’s in Business Administration.
What is more, Ken Mehlman has been working closely with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co to develop metrics and analytic tools that all sorts of companies can employ to measure and oversee a number of resources. This type of data is critical as companies can measure each of their day-to-day operations and identify where they can solve any problems while at the same time permitting them to view how much they have advanced.
The business community has been changed permanently by the work of Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund. These innovations have set a high standard for firms in every industry and demonstrated that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.
