The Net’s Most Wanteds

Originally, when Henry Kravis and his partner George Roberts launched Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in 1976 with assistance from the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s focus was in highly leveraged transactions. Moving beyond, aiming to make the companies they take over more environmentally friendly, KKR have established a groundbreaking venture which has transformed the way business concerns and environmental activists carry on their day-to-day business. Green business processes became more widely acceptable last year when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. Their company mission is to encourage their affiliated firms to oppose procedures which may jeopardize the environment like hazardous chemicals as well as inordinate water consumption.

Eco-efficiency (the phrase was originally submitted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) is the technique deployed to achieve these aims, by applying green techniques such as reducing the intensity of materials, reducing the waste of resources and optimizing data centers for efficiency. Although the program was an enormous success, staff just did not recognize how fantastic the effects truly were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, examined the figures for the first 12 months.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Ken realized that eco-efficiency not only reduced the overall impact on the environment, but was increasing the the profit from every company besides. Almost all of the commercial organizations affiliated to Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman nowadays practice eco-efficiency. If you think about the fact that this group of companies has a value of nearly one hundred billion dollars, you can see what a feat this actually is.

The initial program is expanding to include new opportunities. The Climate Corps Program set up by the EDF is just one of these projects, it promotes planet friendly principles to MBA interns.

KKR and Ken Mehlman have been creating a variety of metrics and analytic tools that manipulate various resources. These systems allow management to measure their progress and discover any underlying problems.

Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made decreasing their ecological impact easier for companies large and small. These developments have set a benchmark for companies in any sector and established that making profits need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.