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Can our planet continue to support a growing population estimated to reach 10 billion people by the middle of the century? Are there unexplored benefits in increasing numbers of people in the world? And how can we harness the benefits of a healthier, wealthier and longer-living population?

Professor Ian Goldin, director of the Oxford Martin School, Professor Robyn Norton, co-director of The George Institute for Global Health at the Oxford Martin School, Professor Sarah Harper, director, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing at the Oxford Martin School and professor of gerontology at the University of Oxford, Dr Toby Ord, a James Martin fellow at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, and Professor Charles Godfray, director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, introduce a series of essays by leading academics on the planet and population. The collection has been edited by Goldin and includes contributions from him, Norton, Harper, Ord, Godfray and fellow academics from the Universities of Oxford and Sydney and from the Club of Rome.

Goldin is professor of globalisation and development at the University of Oxford. He is a former vice-president of the World Bank and advisor to President Nelson Mandela. His books include Divided Nations, Globalisation for Development, and Exceptional People. He also gives the festival’s Princeton Lecture on The Butterfly Defect.

In association with Oxford Martin School, festival ideas partner.