In September and October’s top post, Susie Jolly captures how sex education is deeply enmeshed in the power dynamics and institutional norms established by lingering colonialist influences. “We should be outraged, but maybe not surprised at sexuality education’s colonialist connections, writes Jolly. “Sexuality and power are integrally connected at both individual and systems levels.” The author lays out three strategies to address the impact of sex education’s colonialist past and decolonize sex education: resources and reparations, changing sexuality education content, and changing who decides the content.

The second most popular post explores Bolivia’s journey managing lithium extraction and production as this critical mineral becomes increasingly essential to achieving the green energy transition. With 56 percent of global lithium deposits existing in the Lithium Triangle (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile), Bolivia is among a small number of countries where vast reserves of lithium and other critical minerals can be found. Authors Kathryn Ledebur and Erika Weinthal explore how Bolivia is navigating the management of this in-demand resource and how it is paving the way for other countries in the Lithium Triangle to establish just and sustainable lithium industries guided by inclusion, sovereignty, and strong legal protections. 

Across the Pacific Ocean, China, the world’s most populous country, endured a record-breaking heat wave lasting two-months and reaching temperatures as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit. In September and October’s third top post, Scott Moore articulates how China’s extreme temperatures underscore the need for urgent climate action on a global scale. China’s growing climate risks are a clear warning to the international community that cooperation on accelerating climate mitigation and adaptation must be prioritized in order to contain the economic and environmental costs of the climate crisis.

On November 15, 2022, global population reached 8 billion people. In the fourth top post, Sarah Baillie emphasizes that the intersection of population growth and environmental issues must be addressed with rights-based approaches grounded in empowerment of women and girls and reproductive justice. To reach greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, population has to be a part of the wider conversation by environmentalists, but its intersections with racism, injustice and capitalism must be acknowledged in order to push the needle forward on inclusive solutions and safeguard human rights.

Protection of human rights is also vital in the emergence of the global critical minerals sector. In the fifth top post of September and October, Roger-Mark De Souza argues for the need to create and strengthen local value chains of cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). One way to lead this charge is by supporting the artisanal and small-scale mining industry (ASM) in the DRC. With cobalt’s necessary role in the green energy transition, strengthening ASM can help build a reliable cobalt supply chain that puts human rights and sustainable development at the forefront of this essential activity.

It’s no secret that China is dominating in overseas development finance. This is made clear through its infrastructure projects like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Contributors Alvin Camba & Victoria Chonn Ching showcase the factors contributing to the success and failure of overseas Chinese projects in our sixth most popular post: “The ‘dance’ among the state, the elites, and the bureaucracy in BRI host countries are major determinants in the success of Chinese projects.” They observe that Chinese firms abroad must navigate the host country’s national interests and domestic dynamics and handle the priorities of different interest groups within the host country including state agencies, firms, political elite, and bureaucracies.

In the seventh top post of September and October, Nataliya Shok shared the outcomes of a recent Wilson Center event on vaccine diplomacy and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Inevitably, she writes, competing political values and strategies contributed to the unfulfilled promise of vaccine diplomacy in the post COVID-19 era. Yet Shok also notes that “COVID-19 challenged the existing architecture of global governance,” making it a useful time to think about global public health leadership in a way that prioritizes policy and technology with new approaches to diplomacy between rivals.

In New Security Beat’s eighth top post, Yiran Ning makes the connection between food security and sustainable peace-building in Kenya. Globally, food insecurity can be a driver of instability, conflict, and extremism as it impacts economies, livelihoods, and public health. The case of Kenya showcases the food security-peace nexus by empowering smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, who play an important role by contributing to 80 percent of all food produced in the nation. Ning also observes that Kenya still faces its fair share of challenges and needs the necessary budgetary support and accountability to achieve greater momentum to secure its food systems. 

The ninth top post weighs in on the need to address plastic and packaging waste by ensuring that packaging producers are held accountable. Authors Sydney Harris and Scott Cassel share that in order to drive meaningful change on plastic waste, producers must be “required to take responsibility for their packaging to create a circular economy.” Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems can ensure that countries improve their waste reduction and recycling which will in turn help build a circular economy on a global scale.

In the final top post, Claire Doyle showcases an expert discussion on what better looks like when it comes to mining, processing, recycling, and consuming critical minerals necessary to achieve the green energy transition. This new class of critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt, niobium, and titanium) is fast replacing petroleum as the powerhouse of the global economy, but with that shift comes new challenges and fear of another resource curse. The event’s speakers concluded that all facets of the critical minerals supply chain and levels of governance are essential in order to strengthen community participation, promote international standards and regulation, and expand policy and partnerships for greater cooperation and more sustainable supply chain. 

1. Decolonising Sex Education, by Susie Jolly
2. Bolivia and Lithium: Can slow and steady win the race?, by Kathryn Ledebur & Erika Weinthal
3. What China’s Heatwave from Hell Tells us About the Future of Climate Action
4. Environmentalists Need To Talk About Population Growth. Here’s How., by Sarah Baillie
5. Protecting Human Rights in DRC Cobalt Mines: A U.S. Priority in a Green Transition, by Roger-Mark De Souza
6. The Complex Dance Around China’s Overseas Projects, by Alvin Camba & Victoria Chonn Ching
7. Vaccine Diplomacy in the Wake of COVID-19, by Nataliya Shok
8. Food Security as a Driver for Sustainable Peace in Kenya, by Yiran Ning
9. Why We Need Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic Packaging, by Sydney Harris & Scott Cassel
10. What Better Looks Like: Breaking the Critical Minerals Resource Curse, by Claire Doyle