Al Hammond

Al Hammond

Al Hammond is a serial entrepreneur, a widely published author, and a pioneer in market-based solutions to poverty. He is co-founder and Executive VP for Strategy of Healthpoint Services, which delivers safe drinking water to rural and small town communities in India, and the former leader the Health for All program at Ashoka, a global network of social entrepreneurs. He has served as a consultant to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, US federal agencies, the United Nations, major corporations, and private foundations. He holds degrees from Stanford and Harvard Universities in engineering and applied mathematics.

GTI Contributions
High-Tech and High-Risk
GTI Forum
High-Tech and High-Risk
Contribution to GTI Forum Which Future Are We Living In?
November 2022

Six Disruptive Technologies
GTI Forum
Six Disruptive Technologies
Contribution to GTI Forum Technology and the Future
February 2022

Roundtable contribution on Global Capitalism - Al Hammond
Roundtable
Contribution to GTI Roundtable Global Capitalism
June 2017
The technology spawned by global capitalism is the key to building a better world.

Al Hammond
Roundtable
Contribution to GTI Roundtable "On Degrowth"
An exchange on the viewpoint The Degrowth Alternative
February 2015

Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead
Other Key Docs
Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead

April 2002

The planetary phase of history has begun, but the future shape of global society remains profoundly uncertain. Though perhaps improbable, a shift toward a planetary civilization of enriched lives, human solidarity, and environmental sustainability is still possible. This treatise examines the historic roots of this fateful crossroads, analyzes alternative scenarios that can emerge from contemporary forces and contradictions, and points to strategies and choices for advancing a Great Transition. It synthesizes the insights of the Global Scenario Group, convened in 1995 by the Tellus Institute and Stockholm Environment Institute to explore the requirements for a sustainable and desirable future.


The pdf is available in English, Español, and Deutsch.


Bending the Curve: Toward Global Sustainability
Other Key Docs
Bending the Curve: Toward Global Sustainability

November 1998

This paper analyzes the prospects for sustainability within the confines of Conventional Worlds scenarios. The shift to more sustainable forms of development must at least begin at this level, although we will likely need more fundamental social changes to complete the transition to a sustainable global society. The paper introduces social and environmental targets as well as strategic policies for reaching them. It shows both the great potential for progress and the daunting challenges within a growth-driven development paradigm.


Branch Points: Global Scenarios and Human Choice
Other Key Docs
Branch Points: Global Scenarios and Human Choice

November 1997

This paper introduces scenario methods and a framework for envisioning global futures. It depicts contrasting world development scenarios, all compatible with current patterns and trends, but with sharply different implications for the quest for sustainability in the twenty-first century. Three broad scenario classes are depicted—Conventional Worlds, Barbarization, and Great Transitions—which are characterized by, respectively, essential continuity with current patterns, fundamental but degenerative social change, and fundamental and progressive social transformation.