Dr. Stephen Hammer is a global leader in climate policy, finance, decarbonization, and resilience, with 30+ years of experience linking science, data, and investment to drive climate action both locally and globally.
As Founding CEO of The New York Climate Exchange, he recently led a coalition of 48 academic, corporate, and community partners working to create a center for climate solutions and a 250,000 sq ft campus on Governors Island in New York harbor—a first-of-its-kind hub where research, innovation, workforce development, and finance converge to advance progress on climate at speed and scale.
During his tenure at the Exchange, he:
He was previously a senior policy advisor focused on International Climate Policy and Strategy with the World Bank's Climate Change Group in Washington DC. In addition to advising senior management, he represented the World Bank on global commissions and working groups focused on climate finance, including the UNFCCC Transitional Committee seeking to operationalize a new global fund on Loss and Damage. Dr. Hammer was one of the key movers behind the creation of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, and in 2021 he chaired the global MDB working group focused on the "Paris Alignment" of their lending portfolios.
He also previously served as Manager of Climate Policy for the World Bank Group, where he led an interdisciplinary team of 60+ scientists, economists, technical experts, and consultants focused on the mainstreaming of climate change in World Bank operations, frontier research on climate change and development topics, and the provision of climate-related advisory services to clients. Key activities undertaken by his team during this period include: development of a Bank-wide strategy supporting implementation of the Paris Agreement, and creation of a new financing mechanism to support analytic work on the ground; development of a Bank-wide climate and health strategy; launch of the Climate Action Peer Exchange (CAPE), providing technical support on climate issues to national finance ministries; development of guidance for clients on how to manage the economic and social impacts of the transition away from fossil fuel-intensive economic activity; and preparation of flagship reports on climate-induced migration and the impacts of climate change on the poor in developing countries.
Dr. Hammer first joined the World Bank in 2013, having been invited to lead the Bank's work on urban climate resilience, low carbon city planning, and solid waste management. He was also engaged in a range of field projects in Ethiopia (focused on a national urban sustainability strategy), Egypt (solid waste management practices), and Romania (low carbon planning in Bucharest and the development of a national urban climate strategy). He spearheaded the development of the World Bank's Low Carbon, Livable Cities (LC2) initiative, which was launched in September 2013. The LC2 initiative included a new city creditworthiness initiative aimed at improving financial management practices in cities around the world. The LC2 initiative also established a path-breaking new capacity building program focused on professional development by those working on climate at the local level. Finally, the Bank partnered with the C40, Bloomberg Philanthropies, WRI, and AECOM to release CURB, a scenario-based low carbon planning tool designed to help cities craft their climate action plan.
Before Dr. Hammer joined the World Bank, he was a professor at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), where he taught courses and conducted research on a variety of urban energy and climate policy topics. Prior to that, he taught at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he founded and directed the Urban Energy Program; at the Milano Graduate School of Urban Affairs; and at the Pratt Institute.
In addition to his teaching, Dr. Hammer regularly consulted with governmental and non-governmental organizations, including:
Dr. Hammer co-founded and co-directed the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), an international consortium of researchers interested in climate change from an urban perspective. He was also a member of the Energy Policy Task Force advising then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg on matters germane to PlaNYC, New York City's long-term growth and sustainability initiative.
Dr. Hammer has written extensively on local energy policymaking, urban energy systems, distributed generation technology, and the impacts of climate change on local and regional energy networks. He continues to serve on the editorial board of the academic journal Urban Climate; is a reviewer for multiple academic journals; and was the co-editor of Climate Change and Cities, published by Cambridge University Press in May 2011.
Dr. Hammer holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.S. in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from the University of California at Davis.
As Founding CEO of The New York Climate Exchange, he recently led a coalition of 48 academic, corporate, and community partners working to create a center for climate solutions and a 250,000 sq ft campus on Governors Island in New York harbor—a first-of-its-kind hub where research, innovation, workforce development, and finance converge to advance progress on climate at speed and scale.
During his tenure at the Exchange, he:
- secured $77 million in new philanthropic and government support for the Exchange campus and programming
- built out of team of 30 climate, architecture/design, and non-profit professionals
- renegotiated the agreement with City of New York to rightsize and redesign the 250,000 sf campus to be built on Governors Island
- launched innovative programming on a broad array of climate finance, urban resilience, green workforce development, battery circularity, climate data stewardship, climate tech, and youth engagement initiatives, all structured in a way that embodied the Exchange’s innovative multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder model
- raised the public profile of the Exchange through high impact speaking engagements, media interviews, and activities aimed at broadening the base of stakeholders focused on climate challenges and opportunities
He was previously a senior policy advisor focused on International Climate Policy and Strategy with the World Bank's Climate Change Group in Washington DC. In addition to advising senior management, he represented the World Bank on global commissions and working groups focused on climate finance, including the UNFCCC Transitional Committee seeking to operationalize a new global fund on Loss and Damage. Dr. Hammer was one of the key movers behind the creation of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, and in 2021 he chaired the global MDB working group focused on the "Paris Alignment" of their lending portfolios.
He also previously served as Manager of Climate Policy for the World Bank Group, where he led an interdisciplinary team of 60+ scientists, economists, technical experts, and consultants focused on the mainstreaming of climate change in World Bank operations, frontier research on climate change and development topics, and the provision of climate-related advisory services to clients. Key activities undertaken by his team during this period include: development of a Bank-wide strategy supporting implementation of the Paris Agreement, and creation of a new financing mechanism to support analytic work on the ground; development of a Bank-wide climate and health strategy; launch of the Climate Action Peer Exchange (CAPE), providing technical support on climate issues to national finance ministries; development of guidance for clients on how to manage the economic and social impacts of the transition away from fossil fuel-intensive economic activity; and preparation of flagship reports on climate-induced migration and the impacts of climate change on the poor in developing countries.
Dr. Hammer first joined the World Bank in 2013, having been invited to lead the Bank's work on urban climate resilience, low carbon city planning, and solid waste management. He was also engaged in a range of field projects in Ethiopia (focused on a national urban sustainability strategy), Egypt (solid waste management practices), and Romania (low carbon planning in Bucharest and the development of a national urban climate strategy). He spearheaded the development of the World Bank's Low Carbon, Livable Cities (LC2) initiative, which was launched in September 2013. The LC2 initiative included a new city creditworthiness initiative aimed at improving financial management practices in cities around the world. The LC2 initiative also established a path-breaking new capacity building program focused on professional development by those working on climate at the local level. Finally, the Bank partnered with the C40, Bloomberg Philanthropies, WRI, and AECOM to release CURB, a scenario-based low carbon planning tool designed to help cities craft their climate action plan.
Before Dr. Hammer joined the World Bank, he was a professor at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), where he taught courses and conducted research on a variety of urban energy and climate policy topics. Prior to that, he taught at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he founded and directed the Urban Energy Program; at the Milano Graduate School of Urban Affairs; and at the Pratt Institute.
In addition to his teaching, Dr. Hammer regularly consulted with governmental and non-governmental organizations, including:
- the OECD (where he supported the OECD's work on urban green growth issues)
- the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (where he worked on China low carbon city development issues, including LBNL's award-winning software-based decision support tool, known as BEST-Low Carbon Cities)
- the World Bank (where he served as team leader on an energy efficiency study in DaNang, Vietnam)
- Energy Smart Cities Initiative, a China-based program providing energy and climate policy training to local government officials around China.
Dr. Hammer co-founded and co-directed the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), an international consortium of researchers interested in climate change from an urban perspective. He was also a member of the Energy Policy Task Force advising then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg on matters germane to PlaNYC, New York City's long-term growth and sustainability initiative.
Dr. Hammer has written extensively on local energy policymaking, urban energy systems, distributed generation technology, and the impacts of climate change on local and regional energy networks. He continues to serve on the editorial board of the academic journal Urban Climate; is a reviewer for multiple academic journals; and was the co-editor of Climate Change and Cities, published by Cambridge University Press in May 2011.
Dr. Hammer holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.S. in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from the University of California at Davis.
