Climate change is set to play a bigger and bigger part in all of our lives as nations look to address what is a global issue. This global dimension, however, convinces some that action at a local level will not make any difference, and so they do nothing.

While this sense of powerlessness is understandable, the effectiveness of lots of individual actions when taken together should not be underestimated.

Take the scheme to provide free or heavily-subsidised insulation to homes in Bradford. It is estimated that this will save hundreds of homeowners a total of £200,000 in heating bills.

And the savings are not just a one-off, but occur year-on-year, so this figure will continue to grow, boosted further as more homes benefit from the scheme.

One house insulated would have no real impact on carbon emissions – but every house in Bradford? What about every house in Britain? What makes this scheme particularly effective is that it not only benefits the environment by reducing energy needs, but it also helps those who sign up by cutting their bills.

There is then, a real incentive for people to take part.

It won’t change the world on its own, but this project has already been a huge success and can only continue to be so. The challenge now is to find other ideas which are equally well thought-out, well funded and effective.