Carl Otto

Carl Otto is a climate and sustainability leader with over a decade of experience driving enterprise climate strategy across aviation and financial services. His work sits at the intersection of technical climate expertise and business decision-making, with a focus on embedding climate considerations into core operations at scale.

He is currently Global Sustainability Director at American Express, where he leads the company’s global Net Zero program and climate strategy. In this role, Carl oversees a multi-disciplinary program spanning greenhouse gas accounting, data governance, and decarbonization execution across more than 35 global markets. He has mobilized executive leadership to align business operations with climate targets, securing Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net Zero validation and embedding climate strategy across global operations.

Previously, Carl was part of the sustainability team at JetBlue Airways, where he led ESG reporting and played a key role in advancing the airline’s decarbonization strategy. His work included launching one of the first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book-and-claim programs for corporate customers, scaling SAF adoption, and supporting carbon neutrality initiatives across JetBlue’s operations. He also contributed to the development of environmental management systems and climate resilience strategies across the airline’s network.

Carl began his career in climate science as a researcher at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University, where he studied carbon dynamics in Arctic and Western U.S. ecosystems. This foundation in climate science continues to inform his approach to bridging technical insight with real-world application.

He holds a Master of Science in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability from Colorado State University.