Article written by Sr. Maamalifar Poreku, MSOLA, published on the Vatican News

In order to tackle the root causes of problems that are generated by human activity and by our systems of profit, we need to imagine a transition across all areas of our lives. As Catholic Sisters, this is how we approach the implementation of COP15: as a holistic challenge to strengthen our care for Creation.

We need to promote access to appropriate financial resources for all – especially for stakeholders in the Global South and for faith-based organizations, whose efforts are often hampered by financial constraints. Structures must be put in place to prevent corruption, the diversion of implementation funds to other operations, or even the use of financing to protect biodiversity for activities that ultimately exploit nature.

We must encourage global leaders to think outside the box when it comes to financial commitments, and seek radical solutions to radical challenges. While I applaud the results of COP15, I can’t help wondering how much could have been achieved by now, if the funds spent on 15 biodiversity conferences had been spent on implementing programmes to protect and restore biodiversity on the ground.