This week's Councillor Column is written by Argyll and Bute Council leader, and Helensburgh Central councillor, Aileen Morton.

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Climate change has been dominating headlines now for months as the pressure ramps up to deal with the impact it is having across the world.

Most recently, experts have been advising that changes they thought were still a decade or more away are happening right now.

The potential for parts of the world to become uninhabitable becomes more and more of an immediate risk.

It can feel like an insurmountable problem and slightly overwhelming for individuals to consider what they can do, what impact their choices can really have.

Media reporting on a wide range of other environmental issues, such as marine pollution, can add to that sense of it all being too much to deal with.

READ MORE: Twelve Green Flags between them for Cardross and Luss schools

But the answer to the age old question of how to eat an elephant is still “one bite at a time”.

Argyll and Bute is already a leader in relation to carbon emissions – a recent report showed that the local authority area currently has the lowest rate of CO2 emissions per head of population in the UK.

In the main this can be attributed to our low population density and low pollution levels combined with substantial forests and ancient woodland of international importance.

However, local residents are also doing their bit – last year it was reported that Argyll was the second top area across the UK for the sale of low emission vehicles.

And Helensburgh now has a zero waste shop, allowing residents to minimise the levels of packaging that goes to waste, with other shops considering how to make their businesses more sustainable.

READ MORE: Helensburgh's new 'zero waste' shop is open for business

The council has already taken steps to reduce its carbon footprint – from solar panels on schools to a wind turbine on Mull to the roll out of LED lighting which has seen a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions for street lights so far.

There is always more that can be done though.

That’s why I’m bringing a motion to the council meeting next week to put in place a Climate Change Environmental Action Group - to consider policy options, and opportunities for strategic projects and activities, that will enhance our contribution to this global issue.

This can’t be about isolated action, of course, so the group will also explore the potential to work with external partners such as local industry.

Climate change will affect everyone – and so we all need to play our part in addressing it.