Climate change poses an existential threat. We argue that carbon pricing and green R&D  support are good economics, but their implementation can be improved. Even if carbon  prices are generalized and given more substance, green R&D is still likely to be smaller  than needed. Much more money must be spent on it than is now the case, and this money  must be properly allocated in order to have an impact. Moreover, done well, other policies,  such as standards, bans, and targeted subsidies, can be good economics. But they have  often been incoherent and their implementation is delicate. We also argue that domestic  and international compensation is key to the acceptability of efficient policies. Finally,  although a country’s emissions will not materially alter the course of climate change,  individual countries can still show the way ahead: They can develop technologies that can  be used by other, poorer, countries. They can provide leadership/momentum on global  agreements and on the need to fund climate change policies in developing economies.