Martin Jones
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martincjones.com
Martin Jones
@martincjones.com
🇦🇺/🇩🇪 climate change/energy economist and policy wonk; former academic (CEEM) and consumer advocate (CUAC); amateur footballer. Personal views. He/him.
Reposted by Martin Jones
FYI: turning off "Smart features" also turns off spell check and the promotions and social tabs. And more.

In effect, a lot of traditional tools in gmail are switched off if you don't let them upload your contracts, love notes, and sad messages to your friends into their plagiarism machine.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Victoria has released its second Climate Change Strategy, covering the period 2026–30. It has also released seven emissions reduction pledges (one for each emissions sector) detailing actions it will take to reduce GHG emissions #SpringSt www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/victorias-cl...
Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy
Setting the course for Victoria reducing emissions and strengthening climate resilience over the next 5 years.
www.climatechange.vic.gov.au
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I'm disappointed we're not seeing more COP-OUT headlines, TBH. #COP31
November 19, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
This just in from @adammorton.bsky.social at The Guardian.

No word yet from the Australian Delegation, but as of 30 minutes ago the official line was "negotiations are still ongoing".

Apparently everyone is getting briefed!
November 19, 2025 at 9:48 PM
"we find that individual variation in overall performance on Raven’s Progressive Matrices is substantially driven by differential strategizing in the face of difficulty."
November 19, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
Seems like something worth focusing on now.

Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’
- by @fionaharvey.bsky.social @jonathan-watts.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’
Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offer world hope of avoiding climate breakdown
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Martin Jones
South Korea vows to phase out coal, and use gas only as “emergency backup” to support an “aggressive” expansion of wind, solar and storage.
reneweconomy.com.au
November 18, 2025 at 3:09 AM
"Melbourne-based start-up Kapture has partnered with Deakin University through its Recycling and Clean Energy Commercialisation Hub (REACH) to transform combustion engine emissions into sustainable fertiliser." www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin...
From exhaust to fertiliser - Deakin and Kapture are set to transform Australian agriculture
Kapture and Deakin University’s REACH are pioneering technology that captures diesel emissions and converts them into green fertiliser, supporting decarbonisation and sustainable farming across Austra...
www.deakin.edu.au
November 17, 2025 at 6:41 AM
"the chief executives of more than a dozen major electricity suppliers, including AGL, Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia ... rejected calls to ditch net zero and insisted that shifting to a mostly renewable grid was the best way to keep bills as low as possible." www.theage.com.au/business/the...
Energy giants back net zero as Coalition reignites climate war
Australia’s major power companies have reinforced support for net zero and a renewable-dominated grid, insisting it will be the cheapest option for consumers.
www.theage.com.au
November 17, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Martin Jones
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.

The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv
The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software
www.euractiv.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
The new 2025 Global Carbon Budget finds that fossil fuel emissions will reach a new high in 2025. Total CO2 emissions (including land use) remain flat at 2024 levels.

While the land sink is up from 2024, carbon sinks are weakening: www.carbonbrief.org/...
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 AM
"What do statistics tell us about Victoria's crime wave?" Good article on some of the background to the Victorian Government's current focus on youth crime. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
The statistics behind Victoria's crime wave
As Victoria grapples with a crime wave, the ABC takes a deeper look at some of the numbers behind the rise in offences.
www.abc.net.au
November 12, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Good piece from Stephen Bartholomeusz on how the AI bubble is slowly shifting away from 'companies that can afford to lose the money' to – potentially – broader investors via debt issuance; a shift that might raise systemic risks through hidden leverage www.theage.com.au/business/ban...
The rising threat to the global financial system
The AI boom has stoked fears about what would happen to the sharemarket if it goes wrong. Now there are concerns the damage could be much more widespread.
www.theage.com.au
November 12, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Interesting: 62% of residents in Australia’s Renewable Energy Zones support solar and wind energy projects. BUT only 37% of respondents believed that most *other* people in their region support them. reneweconomy.com.au/listen-to-fa...
reneweconomy.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
Pov: you are a private equity firm investing in football:
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Climate Analytics has released some reports (commissioned by Fortescue) on fully decarbonising industries without offsets, AKA "real zero" climateanalytics.org/publications...
The reports contain case studies on battery electric trucks in Europe, green steel in Japan, and green fertiliser in India.
Real zero is within reach
This analysis explores the technical feasibility and economic benefits of real zero. Our analysis demonstrates that reaching real zero is achievable in many sectors and identifies the economic benefit...
climateanalytics.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Interesting argument from Prof. Nicole Gurran that the main problem for housing growth is not planning restrictions, but financial feasibility – especially in the medium- and high-density sectors. The biggest help? Rising prices 😕 www.theage.com.au/national/rea...
Reality check: Promised 67,000 homes a year would send building into freefall
The plan is to make new homes $100,000 cheaper. Sadly, the biggest boost to supply will happen when property prices rise again.
www.theage.com.au
November 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
this is actually impressive, making up a brand new nobel peace prize replacement is a genuine innovation in bribery

absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA
November 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
"The green transition on our roads is happening far too slowly for the Albanese government to achieve its ambitious climate targets, with sales figures revealing electric vehicle sales have dropped almost 17 per cent so far this year." www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Australia’s electric vehicle revolution stalls as sales plummet
Peak petrol car sales appears to have arrived, but the slow rate of change to EVs is putting the nation’s climate targets at risk.
www.smh.com.au
November 6, 2025 at 10:58 AM
The EU has agreed its climate goal for 2040: 90% below 1990 levels (or 89% below 2005 levels, for comparison to Australia). However, the EU Commission had to make some concessions to countries to get agreement, notably allowing 5% of international offsets in the 90% www.euractiv.com/news/elevent...
Eleventh-hour deal on EU climate action to 2040 | Euractiv
A hard-won compromise gives the EU something to show at the COP30 climate jamboree but sees domestic ambition slashed
www.euractiv.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
The 20th-century economist Robert Solow created the theory of infinite economic growth by substituting "technological innovation" for the productivity of land in his model, thereby decoupling the economy from any limits imposed by land or ecosystems.

The world took his theory as gospel.

1/n
November 4, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Martin Jones
Ten years on, the Paris Agreement is working—just not fast enough. Our new report tracks 22 ways it’s changing the world: uniting countries behind 1.5°C and net zero, and cutting projected 2100 warming by ~1°C (≈3.6°C → ≈2.7°C).
climateanalytics.org/publications...
What has the Paris Agreement done for us?
Ten years on, the Paris Agreement is working, but not nearly fast enough. Since 2015 it has become the essential organising framework for global climate action: uniting countries behind the 1.5°C temp...
climateanalytics.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Martin Jones
I truly think this is an underappreciated point that much of the "rising far right" polisci literature has missed.

We have n->inf findings that bad stuff leads to far right voting. But why _doesn't_ bad stuff lead to far left (or center left) voting? One big answer: A failure of political supply.
🗳️ New study (w @jessicakuhlm.bsky.social) on AfD success in integration council elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: AfD achieved significant results in councils elected exclusively by voters with migration backgrounds. It's not about economics—it's about political competition. (1/3)
November 4, 2025 at 11:06 AM