Category Archives: Partnerships

How Ocean Spray cut its shipping emissions 20 percent

By | Bio | Published: February 13, 2013

Corporations aren't paying enough attention to the massive global impact of their carbon emissions from transporting freight — yet there are simple steps they can take to reduce their shipping footprints. Last month, EDF released the first in a series of case studies intended to draw attention to the significant potential for emission improvements and [...]

Also posted in Behavior, Fleet Vehicles, Goods Movement, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Supply Chain Management, Tools | Leave a comment

Top 10 Private Equity ESG Developments in 2012

By | Bio | Published: January 24, 2013

As we close out our first month of 2013, let's look back at the prior year to reflect on the progress the private equity industry has made on environmental, social and governance (ESG) management. In classic fashion, we hereby present a top 10 list of private equity ESG developments in 2012. 1. Private equity reporting [...]

Also posted in Behavior, EDF Climate Corps, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, News Commentary, Private Equity, Tools | Leave a comment

Impressive new results of KKR's Green Portfolio Program provide important insights for the private equity sector

By | Published: December 17, 2012

Today KKR announced the fourth year of results from its Green Portfolio Program (GPP), with portfolio companies saving a whopping $644 million and avoiding more than 1.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, 3.4 million tons of waste, and 13.2 million cubic meters of water. We know it has taken a significant amount of [...]

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AlpInvest CEO Wants to See Private Equity take its ESG Efforts to the Next Level – We’re Developing a Tool for That

By | Published: November 28, 2012

We were excited to hear AlpInvest Partners Chief Executive Volkert Doeksen's recent remarks where he urged institutional investors (LPs) in private equity to keep pushing for greater integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives into the management of private equity firms (GPs) by focusing their efforts on implementation and results. Incorporating ESG into a [...]

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Data-Driven Water Savings

By | Bio | Published: November 14, 2012

Affecting more than half the country, this summer’s drought has put water issues front of mind.  As the risk to supply chains and communities where they operate increase, not surprisingly, companies are paying more attention to their water impact. Notably, this summer Facebook was the first company to ever release water usage effectiveness (WUE) data. [...]

Also posted in Behavior, Energy Efficiency, Innovation, Water | 1 Response

TPG's New Sustainability Website Highlights Increased Transparency in Private Equity

By | Bio | Published: October 17, 2012

Four years ago, as EDF was building up our Green Returns project, I landed a meeting with a leading private equity firm to discuss sustainability and possibly participating in our new initiatives. On the train into Manhattan, I looked up the firm's website on my smart phone to find the exact address for our meeting. [...]

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Oak Hill Partnership Shows That Environmental Opportunities Abound for Middle-Market Private Equity Firms

By | Published: October 11, 2012

Large private equity firms like The Carlyle Group (Carlyle) and KKR have clearly proven the environmental, financial and reputational benefits of undertaking environmental initiatives within their portfolios. Since we started our private equity work in 2008, however, smaller firms have repeatedly questioned whether it is really possible to replicate a similar approach at the majority [...]

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BSR Insight highlights environmental progress in private equity

By | Bio | Published: October 9, 2012

When Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) first teamed up with leaders in the private equity industry four years ago, we were building on the learnings from over 20 years of partnerships with leading public companies.  However, as BSR’s recent blog points out, there are now new lessons learned from private equity firms that all companies can [...]

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BSR Report Takes Stock of Private Equity Industry's ESG Reporting

By | Bio | Published: October 1, 2012

A recent report by BSR on the level of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting in the private equity industry provides a useful benchmark of the progress that has been made, as well as the ground that remains to be covered. BSR authors Laura Gitman and Charlotte Bancilhon reviewed the ESG reporting practices of the [...]

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Private Equity Firms Realize the Value of Participating in EDF Climate Corps

By | Published: September 18, 2012

In recent weeks, the eight EDF Climate Corps fellows who have been embedded at private equity firms and their portfolio companies began giving their final reports to senior management about their efforts to identify strategic opportunities to increase energy efficiency and returns. We've been impressed at the level of engagement by top leaders at The [...]

Also posted in EDF Climate Corps, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Private Equity | Leave a comment