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They hold modern life together in everything from airplane parts to apartment blocks, but steel, concrete and aluminium come with a hefty climate cost that the world could be paying for decades.
Battle lines on coal, oil and gas hardened at the UN climate talks on Tuesday where activists said a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber nearly every delegation in Dubai.
As countries try to hammer out a response to climate change at the COP28 talks in Dubai, here are some key figures about how fossil fuels have warmed our world.
Battle lines on fossil fuels hardened at UN climate talks on Tuesday despite scientists warning that global warming could breach the 1.5C threshold within seven years.
Saudi Arabia's energy minister has slammed the door shut to agreeing to phase down fossil fuels at the UN's COP28 climate talks, setting the stage for difficult negotiations in Dubai.
The world may cross the crucial 1.5C global warming threshold in seven years as fossil fuel CO2 emissions continue to rise, scientists warned Tuesday, urging countries at the COP28 talks to "act now" on coal, oil and gas pollution.
Saudi Arabia's energy minister has slammed the door shut on agreeing to phase out fossil fuels at the UN's COP28 climate talks, setting the stage for difficult negotiations in Dubai.
Inside the negotiating rooms and on the sidelines of the COP28 climate talks, simmering tensions over wealthy countries' "green trade" policies have been bubbling to the surface, with developing nations fearful they will be penalised.
The COP28 climate talks have been flooded with announcements hyping controversial carbon credits before rules for them have been hammered out, with environmental groups fearing "greenwashing" on a massive scale.
The Emirati head of the UN climate conference insisted on Monday that he respects climate science after he came under fire over a leaked video in which he questions the science on fossil fuels.
The Emirati president of the UN's COP28 talks said Monday he respects climate science, after a leaked video showed him declaring that no science says phasing out fossil fuel will achieve climate goals.
Rains lashed southern India's city of Chennai on Monday ahead of the landfall of a powerful cyclone, with a crocodile spotted swimming the streets and cars floating away.
COP28 in Dubai is the biggest UN climate summit ever. But the victims of its success are the thousands of delegates, observers and lobbyists who have to wait in long winding queues every day at the entry to the giant site on the edge of the desert.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Brussels on Sunday to demand urgent action against climate change as world leaders gathered for crunch COP28 talks in the United Arab Emirates.
Armed with satellite images of pipelines, former US vice president and climate champion Al Gore singled out the emissions of the United Arab Emirates at the COP28 talks in the oil-rich monarchy on Sunday.
Dubai's glitzy skyline was obscured by a blanket of smog rated as "unhealthy" on Sunday as thousands of delegates attended a COP28 conference dedicated to the harmful effects of air pollution.
More than 110 nations pledged to triple the world's renewable energy within seven years at UN climate talks Saturday as the United States pushed to slash methane emissions and boost nuclear capacity.
Fifty oil and gas companies representing 40 percent of global production pledged to decarbonise their operations by 2050 at the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai on Saturday.
The United States led calls at UN climate talks Saturday for efforts to curb methane emissions but also pushed a deeply controversial drive to boost nuclear energy in efforts to curb global warming.
More than 20 nations including the United States called for a tripling of nuclear energy to drive down emissions on Saturday as world leaders assembled for a second day at UN climate talks in Dubai.
It would be a mistake to reject nuclear power because of problems at a handful of projects, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in an interview with AFP.
More than 110 countries want the COP28 climate negotiations to adopt a goal of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday.
King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the UN's COP28 talks in Dubai must be a turning point in the fight against climate change, as tough negotiations over the fate of fossil fuels began.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered Friday to host the UN's COP33 climate conference in 2028.
King Charles III told world leaders on Friday that the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai must be a "critical turning point" in the fight against climate change, with "genuine transformational action".
More than two million people across the Horn of Africa have been forced from their homes by torrential rains and floods, according to an AFP tally compiled Thursday from government and UN figures.
Nearly 200 nations agreed Thursday to launch a fund to support countries hit by global warming, in a "historic" moment at the start of UN climate talks in the oil-rich UAE.
The Emirati host of the UN climate conference said Thursday that fossil fuels must be part of any deal as the crucial negotiations on global warming opened in Dubai.
The German government on Thursday lost a key climate case brought by environmental groups, in an embarrassing slap down the day before Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due to travel to the COP28 climate summit.
As global warming and prohibitive costs threaten the long-term future of the Winter Olympics, organisers know they must soften their demands in order to retain a pool of potential hosts for the decades to come.
The UN's former climate chief said she was "giving up hope" that fossil fuel firms will be part of the solution to warming as pivotal COP28 talks start Thursday in oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
US Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the UN climate summit in Dubai and meet regional officials on the Israel-Hamas conflict, the White House said Wednesday, after US President Joe Biden faced pushback for not going.