He serves the Global Commission on Economy & Climate and the steering group to assist African Union reform. His research and writing on development issues specializes in development and strategic planning.

He was a member of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) executive team and managed its global program with a portfolio of USD 1 billion. He has also served on advisory boards of the Kofi Annan Foundation, World Economic Forum African Council, ISCTE Lisbon University Institute, Instituto Ethos, Geneva Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies, and journals such as Géopolitique Africaine, African Sociological Review, African Identities and Strategic Review for Southern Africa.

Carlos Lopes has also held the positions of UN Assistant-Secretary-General and Director for Political Affairs in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General; Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training; and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva and Director of the UN System Staff College in Turin at the level of Assistant Secretary-General.

Following service in the public sector of his native Guinea-Bissau in areas of research, diplomacy and planning, he joined the UNDP as a development economist in 1988. While at UNDP, he occupied various positions, including Deputy Director at the Office of Evaluation & Strategic Planning, Resident Representative in Zimbabwe, as well as Deputy, and later Director of the New York-based Bureau for Development Policy.

He received his PhD in history from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris and holds a Master of Research from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies.