Emmanuel is an interdisciplinary scholar by training. His areas of research and teaching intersect energy, environment, climate change and society. He has a special interest in marginalized societies. Being an engaged scholar, Emmanuel combines traditional academic scholarship with practitioner work. Coupled with his pedagogical skills he creates an exciting intellectual environment for the teaching and research training of his students to critically examine sustainability and climate change challenges to generate novel solutions.

As an academic, Emmanuel teaches in leading universities in North America, Europe and Africa. His sustainability practitioner work has taken him to several countries where he provides technical support for governments to meet requirements in their Paris Agreement (PA).

Emmanuel is currently an Adjunct Professor, Sustainable Energy & Climate Change at the University of British Columbia, Department of Forest Resources Management, Vancouver, Canada. He was an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Thompson Rivers University (TRU), Kamloops, Canada.

From year 2010 to 2021, Emmanuel was a Senior Researcher at the United Nations Environment Programme Copenhagen Climate Centre (then UNEP DTU). He managed UNEP's Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD), where he led several research projects in Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, India, China, Thailand, Brazil and Argentina. Emmanuel provides advisory support to countries.