The Growth of Environmentally Aware Business
Saturday, February 27th, 2010Initially, when Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts launched Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the mid-seventies with some help from the First Chicago Corporation, their specialization was in bootstrap buyouts. But they have established a remarkable project that concentrates not just on how profitable an enterprise is, but in addition on how environmentally friendly each of the corporations in their portfolio are.
When Henry Kravis from KKR and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged a year ago green matters in the business community became major discussion topic. Issues like water pollution and excessive consumption of water resources are a top priority in their corporate mission statement.
Eco-efficiency (a term initially introduced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD) is the procedure deployed to achieve these aims, through employing techniques such as using clean energy, reducing the intensity of materials and maximum use of renewable resources. Simple and effective, even so the businesses who were taking part did not even understand the full advantages of the project until Ken Mehlman, the person responsible for the program, evaluated the program subsequent to a full year in operation. Knocking off all expectations, Ken found that this program not only cut back on the overall impact on the environment, but also increased the the net profit from all their business organizations too. Nearly all of the business organizations held by KKR and Ken Mehlman now participate in the Green Portfolio Project. Considering that the portfolio has a net worth of 86 billion USD, you may see what a massive achievement this is. KKR in association with Ken Mehlman have also expanded the initial program. The Climate Corps Program set up by the EDF is one of these ventures, it advances eco-efficient business techniques to MBA interns.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have been formulating metrics and analytic tools which oversee resources. With this information available, businesses may without very much effort measure all of their daily activities and identify how they can improve while simultaneously permitting staff to discover their ecological impact.
The business community has been changed permanently by the efforts of these organizations. Their innovations have simplified the procedure for businesses in any industry and shown the world that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.