ConocoPhillips, Texas manufacturer and fuel and petrochemical transporter Valero Energy Corp and Virginia-headquartered power and energy company Dominion Resources all achieved a decline of over 10% in emissions between 2010-2013.

Meanwhile, the report named PetroChina, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp and steel maker ArcelorMittal as the top corporate greenhouse gas emitters in 2013.

Large firms whose emissions rose more than 10% in the period were led by the metals and mining group Glencore, Russia's Surgutneftegas and Exelon Corp.

The top 500 firms by capitalisation accounted for 13.8% of world greenhouse gas emissions and 28% of gross domestic product in 2013, according to the report – authored by Thomson Reuters in conjunction with BSD Consulting.

While conservationists have jumped on these results, Thomson Reuters director of sustainability Tim Nixon was slow to judge companies after the stating the majority of the world uses the end products.

“Almost all of us use products from these companies,” he said.

“This is about transparency. We hope companies will look at the report and engage with their stakeholders to reduce emissions.”

BSD executive manager John Moorhead noted that while many of the top 500 companies, notably in finance, information technology and telecoms, had relatively low emissions, they could have a huge influence on emissions beyond their own borders in their choice of suppliers.

The UN Environment Program, which set out a path last month to limit global temperature rises to 2C above pre-industrial times, implied a 4.2% fall in world emissions between 2010 and 2013.

Almost 200 countries have set 2C as a ceiling to limit the extra droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels that some scientists see as the consequence of global warming.

Governments will try to work out a UN climate deal in late 2015 at a summit in Paris to limit emissions of greenhouse gases which trap the sun's heat.