Small-minded debates do our city's reputation no favours.

This is an area where the city can help people to start making a difference. It has already raised the game on recycling - even if it does confuse householders over what can be recycled and then ship the lot to Essex for sorting. It's a start. And, some would argue, any step in the right direction is worth taking.

"Keith Barton rubbished dire forecasts by the council's head of sustainability and insisted that estimates of huge economic, environmental and social damage from changing weather patterns resembled something that National Lottery clairvoyant Mystic Meg might have written."

Look at the world around you Cllr Barton. Big weather events are killing people. Scarce energy resources are putting our heating bills up and causing international tension, even conflict.

Earlier this week David Cameron was in a Birmingham organic café trying to persuade local people how green he is. This sort of thing will get your boss choking on his sun-dried tomatoes!

Cllr Deidre Alden may have been slightly more on-message, but I have my suspicions. What motivates her desire for park and ride on the Hagley Road? Is it emissions targets or commuters votes? You decide.

After interviewing David Cameron at the Kitchen Garden Café in Kings Heath, Tracey Fletcher said she wanted to vote for someone who had the courage to push through policies and who was not afraid to tell people things they didn't like to hear.

It's a pity then that Sandy Taylor's report, which sounds like it contained some scary predictions, got such a rough ride. This is the biggest debate of our age and the chance for leaders, whether on the world stage or the local stage, to show courage and conviction - for the sake of our children.

If Birmingham wants to be a global city, surely it needs to learn how to set a global example? And our international reputation can be good for business (whatever your motives)