Top energy firms tied to almost a third of greenhouse gases -study

* Gazprom leads emissions, including use of products

* Emissions by top companies rising overall

By Alister Doyle

PARIS, May 20 (Reuters) - Thirty-two energy companies led byRussia's Gazprom account for almost a third of allman-made greenhouse gas emissions if the burning of all thecoal, oil and gas they produce is taken into account, a studysaid on Wednesday.

Total emissions linked to the companies rose 1.3 percentfrom 2010-13, despite efforts for curbs, according to the reportby information provider Thomson Reuters and BSD Consulting, aglobal sustainability consultancy.

Emissions from the use of a company's products are usuallyexcluded from corporate carbon accounts, based on emissionsduring operations, because they are outside firms' control.

Including final use of fossil fuels, Gazprom was the singlebiggest emitter, producing 1.26 billion tonnes of greenhousegases in 2013, roughly equivalent to Japan's annual emissions.

Coal India followed on 820 million tonnes, aheadof Glencore, Petrochina, Rosneft,Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, it said. Theenergy companies were picked from a list of 500 of the world'sbiggest firms by capitalisation.

Overall, emissions by the 32 firms, including the finalburning of coal, gas and oil, accounted for 11.7 billion tonnesof greenhouse gases, equivalent to 31 percent of the globaltotal in 2013, it said.

"The footprint is staggering ... the overall purpose of thisreport is to create transparency" about sources of emissions,co-author Tim Nixon, managing editor of sustainability atThomson Reuters, said by telephone.

"This is not a naming and shaming exercise," Nixon andco-author John Moorhead, executive manager of BSD Consulting,wrote in the report. "These are all companies that provide vitalenergy services to the global economy."

"They are also the companies that can provide the leadershipfor the next generation of low-carbon energy and or respond tothe leadership from competitors, regulators or consumers," theywrote.

Businesses are meeting in Paris this week to try to chartways to respond to global warming before a summit in the Frenchcapital in December that is due to agree a global deal torestrict emissions of greenhouse gases.

For a link to the report: http://thomsonreuters.com/content/dam/openweb/documents/pdf/corporate/Reports/global-500-greenhouse-gas-report-fossil-fuel-energy-sector.pdf (Reporting By Alister Doyle, editing by David Evans)