Redirecting existing levels of expenditures to avoid waste or setting new priorities are not the only way to finance climate change.
Many ideas are on the table for raising new revenue.
They are based on the notion that the earth's oceans and atmosphere are common resources, and that all citizens of the planet have rights and responsibilities over them. It is already accepted that if you take your garbage to a landfill site, you will be charged a tipping fee. The European Union is currently studying a proposal for an air fuels tax to raise funds for environmental projects. The revenue from such a tax could go directly to the United Nations Environment Programme, which urgently needs new sources of funding. Another proposal is for a tax on currency trading, an idea which won the support of Francois Mitterrand when he was president of France.