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Three of the North East’s largest companies have been named in a list of Europe’s Climate Leaders.

Transport firm Go-Ahead, technology giant Sage Group and bakery chain Greggs are all included in the list compiled by the FT and data company Statista to highlight companies that are taking steps to reduce their carbon emissions. The list - which is topped by Swedish telecommunications industry company Telia - ranks companies based on CO2 emissions, and also their rating on the CDP environmental database and any involvement in science-based initiatives.

The organisers of the list say: “For any business leader hoping that climate issues could be quietly parked during the energy crisis, the March update from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offered a sharp corrective. Its summary for policymakers said: ‘All global modelled pathways that limit warming to 1.5C...involve rapid and deep and, in most cases, immediate greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors this decade.’ And, while the 500 companies listed in this third edition of Europe’s Climate Leaders — compiled by the Financial Times in partnership with Statista — appear to be moving in the right direction, there is no sign that the pressure to curb emissions is about to abate.”

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Go-Ahead is highest ranked of the three Newcastle firms, followed by Sage.

A Go-Ahead spokesman said: “Go-Ahead is a North Eastern success story – we began as a Gateshead bus operator, and we’ve grown to become an international company with 27,000 colleagues around the world. Sustainability is at the core of our strategy and we’re very pleased to receive this recognition of our environmental efforts.

“We’re proud to be ranked as the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s top transport company on the FT’s European Climate Leaders list. Go-Ahead is the largest operator of zero emission buses in Britain, including our all-electric Voltra buses running in the north-east. We’re also the largest operator of low-emission electric trains in Britain. We’ve got the most ambitious climate change policy in the industry – we plan to reduce our carbon emissions by 75% by 2035, and to be a net zero business by 2045. And we’ll shortly be launching our first hydrogen fuel cell buses, in the Gatwick Airport area.”

Elisa Moscolin, EVP of sustainability and society at Sage, said: “We are proud to be named in the FT’s European Climate Leaders list, and glad that lists like this one are growing in number and audience.