Carlos Lopes is an Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town. He is a visiting professor at Sciences Po Paris and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, London and 2022 Fellow at Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

Professor Lopes has been associated with a number of high-level boards, including the Global Commission for Economy and Climate, Global Commission for Future of Work, Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation, Kofi Annan Foundation and Blockchain Charity Foundation.

He is a current member of a variety of Boards, spanning a number of foundations and academic institutions. He is also a Member of the Nature Markets Task Force, the United Nations High Level Expert group on Net-O Certification by Non-State Entities, and the United Nations Committee for Development Policy. Professor Lopes is Foundation Fellow of the International Science Council, an Honorary Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and Lifetime Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences

Cândido Mendes University, Brazil, Hawassa University, Ethiopia and the Polytechnic University of Mozambique have conferred professor Lopes Honorary Doctorates.

He was previously the Chair of the Lisbon University Institute (2009-2017), and the head of several institutions at the United Nations, including the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UN System Staff College and UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa, (2012-2016).

Professor Lopes has also occupied prominent positions such as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Political Director for Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He was nominated as the African Union High Representative for Partnerships with Europe in 2018 and member of the African Union Reform Team led by President Paul Kagame in 2016.