Private equity giant KKR is accelerating its ESG push with some outside help

Turns out KKR has a soft spot—for sustainability.

KKR, the New York–based buyout firm founded 45 years ago by Henry Kravis, George Roberts, and Jerome Kohlberg, has launched what it is calling the Sustainability Expert Advisory Council, or SEAC, according to a press release to be issued Wednesday. 

Led by University of Oxford Saïd Business School professor Robert Eccles, founding chairman of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, the so-called SEAC marks a new effort from KKR to bring external voices into the firm’s fold to provide guidance on how it...