The key takeaways from the interview with Clare Murray, co-founding partner of Blume Equity, and Kristian Rönn, CEO of Normative, revolve around the perspectives on impact investing from both an investor and a corporate standpoint. Here are the highlights with the timelines:

0:16 – Clare Murray discusses her background and the establishment of Blume Equity, a growth equity climate tech fund investing in European climate solutions. She emphasizes the integration of profit and purpose, her experience at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, and her work at Leapfrog Investments before Blume Equity.
1:31 – Kristian Rönn introduces Normative, a company specializing in carbon emissions accounting and management for large enterprises. He highlights his academic background and the mission of Normative to measure corporate carbon emissions to address climate change.
3:30 – Clare Murray explains Blume Equity’s approach to investing, targeting market-rate returns while incorporating impact investing. She discusses the importance of measuring and communicating impact, leveraging third-party frameworks like the Impact Management Project, and tying a portion of their carry (profit share) to impact targets.
9:18 – Kristian speaks about the discussions at COP28 regarding the integrity of carbon accounting, especially scope 3 emissions, and the need for a system of collaboration instead of estimation for corporate carbon disclosures.
13:12 – Clare Murray shares how Blume Equity works with portfolio companies on sustainability initiatives, including setting baselines for carbon footprints and working on value-creation initiatives related to sustainability.
20:24 – Kristian emphasizes the importance of distributed insights and actions across a business for effective carbon emissions management, and the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer in coordinating efforts with the CFO and other departments.
26:16 – Clare Murray discusses the diverse investor base of Blume Equity, which includes institutions, foundations, pension plans, private banks, and family offices. She also highlights the Impact Advisory Council, which connects investors with portfolio companies for sustainability initiatives.
30:30 – Clare pitches Blume Equity to a hypothetical investor from Asia, focusing on the intersection of financial returns and positive societal and environmental impact.
31:45 – Kristian shares his experience with Blume Equity and the importance of shared values in the investor-investee relationship. He discusses the risks of strategic investors and the benefits of financial investors for maintaining optionality and maneuverability.
39:43 – Kristian outlines the potential future hires for Normative, including a CFO and top-tier sales and technology professionals, while Clare agrees on the importance of a CFO for strategic financial management.
43:20 – Kristian and Clare discuss the potential for Normative to IPO as a means for Blume Equity to exit, highlighting the importance of carbon accounting and the potential for Normative to be a leader in the sector.
51:55 – Kristian speaks about the importance of collective responsibility in addressing climate change and the role of the European Union in leading sustainability efforts, regardless of political changes such as the US elections.
53:57 – Clare Murray concludes by emphasizing the need for more data to prove the correlation between financial returns and impact, and the importance of supporting companies to achieve sustainability both financially and environmentally.

The conversation highlights the growing importance of sustainability and impact investing in the financial industry, the challenges of standardizing carbon accounting metrics, and the potential paths for growth and exit strategies for companies like Normative.