Eight healthcare and med-tech companies were among the hundreds of European businesses selected by Financial Times for its Climate Leaders 2024 list.

Included in the healthcare/med-tech cohort is Ambu A/S, a single-use endoscopy leader that is modifying products with sustainability in mind.

The list focuses on companies that have achieved the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and have committed to additional ambitious climate initiatives. The fourth edition of Financial Times’s Climate Leaders list was compiled with data provider Statista and focuses on companies that have achieved the greatest reduction in their Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions intensity over a five-year period.

Scope 1 emissions come from a company’s own operations, while Scope 2 measures the energy a company uses. Scope 3 emissions, another factor considered for the list, are traced elsewhere in an organization’s value chain. FT also analyzed the extent to which companies collaborated with organizations, such as the Science Based Targets Initiative, that perform sustainability assessments.

“Under the EU’s Green Deal — which aims to make Europe ‘the first climate-neutral continent’ — companies must contend with more carbon pricing, tougher sustainability targets, and broader reporting requirements,” Financial Times writes. “This has prompted warnings about reduced competitiveness from industry groups, as well as outright protests.”

At the same, FT noted, growing numbers of businesses are making important — and measurable — environmental progress. And, as we recently noted, there is a slate of ambitious efforts throughout the U.S. healthcare industry to reduce carbon footprints and drive sustainability initiatives. To that end, four New Jersey hospitals were recently among the first in the country to trumpet their earning the Joint Commission's Sustainable Healthcare Certification.

Ambu recently became the first company to launch an endoscope that uses bioplastics in its handles to help shrink its environmental footprint. Click here to see who made the list and how the companies measured up.

Single-Use Endoscopy is an Ambu USA learning center.