Sustainable/Impact Investing] Commercialisation at Scale — Leveraging Impact as a Growth Engine (Oct 22, 2025)

Hi All,

I wanted to share some quick notes from the recent conference panel I attended. 'Commercialisation at scale – Leveraging impact as a growth engine for corporate business outcomes.' As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and perspectives. Please share them!

Speakers: Emelie Norling (Impact Director, Summa Equity Partners — Private Markets); Amy Clarke (Co-founder & Chief Impact Officer, Tribe Impact Capital — Public Markets)

I. Executive Summary

A recurring theme was reframing sustainability from moral signaling to risk management, opportunity creation, and future fitness. Despite polarized politics, capital tells a different story: 36% of global capex in 2024 flowed to sustainability-related measures—evidence of structural change.

Three imperatives for institutional investors

• Language matters — position ESG as strategic resilience, not ideology. (Amy & Emelie)
• Systems thinking drives value — engage at farmer, supply chain, and circularity levels. (Emelie)
• Longer time horizons — impact and value creation arrive over multi-year cycles. (Emelie & Amy)

II. Shifting the Narrative: From “Doing Good” to “Future Fit”

• Emelie (Private): Growth conditions in private markets improve when impact is framed as operational risk reduction and new revenue pools, not virtue.
• Amy (Public): Boards respond to risk, opportunity, competitiveness. Translate climate/biodiversity into balance-sheet language: resilience as core risk, biodiversity as productivity, circularity as cost control.

“The language is changing, but the commitments aren’t—this is about future-fitting businesses faster than regulation can keep up.” (Amy)

III. Case Study — Regenerative Food Systems (Fava Bean Protein, Croatia) (Emelie — Private)

A PE investment in a Croatian fava bean protein company evolved into a system play:

• ~600 farmers integrated into the value chain.
• A seed biologist (Idaho, US) bred a climate-resilient fava delivering ~50% higher yield and ~35% protein (vs. ~25%).
• Aligning farmer incentives (yield) accelerated adoption.

Lesson: Transition finance works when producers co-design the change. “Farmers on board” beats top-down mandates. (Emelie)

IV. Capital Expenditure as a Forward-Looking Signal (Amy — Public)

• Capex mix is a leading indicator of transition credibility. Despite buybacks/dividends, ~36% of global capex went to sustainability-linked restructuring by end-2024 (efficiency, circular inputs, digital supply chains).
• Corporate Social Innovation (CSI/CSV): issuers partner with NGOs/communities to build products that operate within planetary boundaries and social thresholds—a pragmatic middle ground between philanthropy and profit. (Amy)

V. Case Study — Cork as a Climate Asset (Amy — Public)

A listed cork producer faced softer wine demand. Cork forests: exceptional carbon drawdown and wildfire-risk dampening.

• Engagement outcome: pivot from pure stoppers to nature-based wildfire mitigation using cork forestry.
• Commercial adaptation: ecological advantage → new business line and resilience. (Amy)

VI. Circularity, Resource Dependence, and Policy Alignment

• Emelie (Private): Circular models are economic necessity, reducing raw-material exposure (e.g., China dependence) and opex/volatility. Tech exists—scale and policy are the bottlenecks.
• Amy (Public): Regulation sets the floor; markets can define the ceiling by rewarding issuers that reinvest in resource efficiency and disclose credible circular capex.

VII. Time Horizons and Patience in Capital

• Emelie (Private): Typical 5–7 year holds with exit mapped at entry; patient, hands-on value creation is the edge.
• Amy (Public): 3–4+ year engagement cycles; positions may be tactically trimmed, but strategic exposure persists to embed sustainability into the corporate DNA through management and cycle turnover.

VIII. Conclusion: From Compliance to Curiosity

• Emelie (Private): Systems-level curiosity (farmers, suppliers, technologists) turns impact into a growth engine.
• Amy (Public): Judge credibility via capex, ROI, and execution—not slogans. Resilience and adaptation now sit alongside mitigation.

Key Takeaway

Shift the narrative from “the right thing” to “the smart thing”. Investors who price yield, circularity, and system resilience—then back credible capex and delivery—will define the next winners.

Note) The above detailed summary was put together with the help of AI and reviewed by a human being, me.

About Obsidian Odyssey

Obsidian Odyssey explores the intersection of capital, consciousness, and long-term stewardship. Subscribe for weekly executive reflections on sustainable investing, leadership, and the future of capitalism — written for CIOs, portfolio managers, and next-generation capital architects.

→ Subscribe to Obsidian Odyssey