Posh supermarket chain Marks & Spencer has come first in this year’s ranking of FTSE 100 firms for their carbon cutting activity.

Supermarkets were generally the best performers in the table compiled by Carbon Clear, the global carbon management firm, with the manufacturing, mining & metals and building materials sectors coming bottom.

The research shows the top three performers were M&S in first place, National Grid in second place and Aviva and RSA in joint third position.

The analysis is based on research conducted by Carbon Clear in July 2012 and ranks companies against 47 carbon reporting criteria.

These include how companies measure, report and verify their carbon footprint, their existing and planned strategies for reducing emissions, their actual carbon reductions and their work to engage stakeholders about their climate change programmes.

Also in the top ten were entertainment group BSkyB, telecoms giants BT Group and Vodafone, supermarket Sainsbury’s, Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread, the DIY retailer Kingfisher, the publisher Pearson and European real estate firm Hammerson.

Carbon Clear said the results reveal “widespread engagement” with carbon reporting amongst FTSE 100 companies.

Mark Chadwick, Chief Executive of Carbon Clear said: “Although companies are engaged with carbon management, there is still work to be done. This year’s criteria were more challenging than the previous year and it shows in the results, with overall lower scores across all areas. However, there has been significant progress by some companies this year, and others have built on the success they had last year, demonstrating how companies’ carbon management matures over time.”