So who would ever have thought that bankers with their snouts in the trough would turn out to be the catalyst that set the world firmly on a green agenda? It wasn't exactly the straightest route from A to B, granted, but that's pretty much how the story pans out.

Because, had it not been for the antics of The Great and The Greedy with their obscene pay packets and farcical bonuses then the world's financial institutions would not have been driven onto the rocks in such spectacular fashion. And had the global financial system not been wrecked, inflicting equally enormous collateral damage on just about every other aspect of modern life, then we wouldn't be where we are now. Staring at the ruins of what went before and wondering what should come next.

As President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel neatly put it: "“Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste, they are opportunities to do big things.” But what things exactly? And do they necessarily have to be "big things" which we must meekly wait on the powers-that-be to deliver?

I think not, necessarily. It certainly does require serious clout to build wind farms and nuclear power stations (don't bore me with the arguments against, I'm no fan myself but in the short to medium term there is little choice) and to legislate against wasteful technologies (petrol cars and incandescent lighting anyone?), but equally it only takes widespread awareness of the myriad little things we can each contribute that added together make a huge difference.