The Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) will host a symposium and conference Wednesday through Friday, April 29-May 1, to address challenges related to agriculture and climate change as the global population expands.

Speakers will explore the scientific, policy and ethical questions presented by the need to greatly boost food production to feed a growing world population while reducing agriculture’s contribution of approximately 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. The event is part of PEI’s Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 Ethics and the Environment Lecture Series.

The April 29 symposium, titled “Agricultural Biotechnology and Sustainability,” will gather leaders in biotechnology, food security, agricultural development, biodiversity conservation and environmental protection to discuss major technology and policy issues and to suggest policy options to move agricultural biotechnology forward.

The symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Frist Campus Center Multipurpose Room A. It is cosponsored by the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The April 30-May 1 conference, titled “Feeding a Hot and Hungry Planet: The Challenge of Making More Food and Fewer Greenhouse Gases,” will bring together scholars from around the world to investigate the critical food and agriculture issues surrounding projected world population growth from 6.7 to 9 billion people by 2050.

On April 30, Gary Hirshberg — chairman, president and “CE-Yo” of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer — will present the conference’s keynote address, “Thoughts From an Organic Entrepreneur,” at 1 p.m. A debate titled “Slow Food vs. High-Tech Food — Which Is the Path to a Cooler Planet?” will be held at 8 p.m. Both events will take place in McCosh 50. Other conference panels will be held at various locations around campus.

The conference is cosponsored by the University Center for Human Values and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

The symposium and conference are open to the public, but registration is encouraged. For a detailed schedule of events and to register, visit www.princeton.edu/morefoodlesscarbon/.