Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This week's guest on Cleaning Up is Jon Burke. For six years, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, ending up as Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw the largest urban tree planting campaign in the UK, an extensive roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, and established the borough’s first publicly-owned energy company in a century. In the process, Jon became a lightning rod for opposing views on urban transformation.
Jon and Michael discuss the extraordinary power of trees to provide cooling in urban environments, Jon's shocking treatment at the hands of online trolls, and why he is so passionate about low-traffic neighbourhoods as a means to regenerate localities and protect their inhabitants.
Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich
You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup
Links and Related Episodes
Watch Episode 104 with Yanis Varoufakis: youtube.com/watch?v=PLbm8fg08hc
You can read Michael's piece The Secret of Eternal Growth from 2018 here: ifreetrade.org/?/article/the_secret_of_eternal_growth_the_physics_behind_pro_growth_environmentalism
Jon wrote about the reality of 40C heatwaves coming to UK cities in 2022: bigissue.com/opinion/heatwaves-are-now-reality-we-must-transform-our-cities-green-infrastructure
Jon called to nationalise the UK’s energy system in Big Issue in 2021: bigissue.com/opinion/power-for-the-people-its-time-to-renationalise-the-uk-energy-system
You can read Jon's piece on Sadiq Khan in Architects' Journal here: architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/londons-mayor-talks-the-talk-on-climate-pity-he-doesnt-walk-the-walk
Michael cites the book Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life. Read more about it here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3533936.html
Jon cites the work of Carly Ziter at Concordia University: carlyziter.com
Guest Bio
Jon Burke is Climate Change and Decarbonisation Lead at Gloucester City Council. From 2014 to 2020, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, where he was Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw the largest urban tree planting campaign in the UK, the roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, and established the borough’s first publicly-owned energy company in a century. From 2012-2016, he was Senior Policy Advisory to the London Assembly’s Labour Group.
Jon holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Liverpool John Moores University and an MA in Political Economy from the University of Manchester. He is a Chartered Environmentalist, and sits on the advisory board of Climate Emergency UK.
This week's guest on Cleaning Up is Jon Burke. For six years, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, ending up as Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw the largest urban tree planting campaign in the UK, an extensive roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, and established the borough’s first publicly-owned energy company in a century. In the process, Jon became a lightning rod for opposing views on urban transformation.
Jon and Michael discuss the extraordinary power of trees to provide cooling in urban environments, Jon's shocking treatment at the hands of online trolls, and why he is so passionate about low-traffic neighbourhoods as a means to regenerate localities and protect their inhabitants.
Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich
You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup
Links and Related Episodes
Watch Episode 104 with Yanis Varoufakis: youtube.com/watch?v=PLbm8fg08hc
You can read Michael's piece The Secret of Eternal Growth from 2018 here: ifreetrade.org/?/article/the_secret_of_eternal_growth_the_physics_behind_pro_growth_environmentalism
Jon wrote about the reality of 40C heatwaves coming to UK cities in 2022: bigissue.com/opinion/heatwaves-are-now-reality-we-must-transform-our-cities-green-infrastructure
Jon called to nationalise the UK’s energy system in Big Issue in 2021: bigissue.com/opinion/power-for-the-people-its-time-to-renationalise-the-uk-energy-system
You can read Jon's piece on Sadiq Khan in Architects' Journal here: architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/londons-mayor-talks-the-talk-on-climate-pity-he-doesnt-walk-the-walk
Michael cites the book Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life. Read more about it here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3533936.html
Jon cites the work of Carly Ziter at Concordia University: carlyziter.com
Guest Bio
Jon Burke is Climate Change and Decarbonisation Lead at Gloucester City Council. From 2014 to 2020, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, where he was Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw the largest urban tree planting campaign in the UK, the roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, and established the borough’s first publicly-owned energy company in a century. From 2012-2016, he was Senior Policy Advisory to the London Assembly’s Labour Group.
Jon holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Liverpool John Moores University and an MA in Political Economy from the University of Manchester. He is a Chartered Environmentalist, and sits on the advisory board of Climate Emergency UK.
