CO_2 utilization has received worldwide attention. Effective utilization of CO_2 becomes an urgent challenge. As such, developing catalysts and catalytic processes for effective CO_2 conversion will contribute positively to reducing net CO_2 emission. Recent developments of catalysts for CO_2 hydrogenation to methanol, CO_2 methanation and CO_2 reforming of methane have been briefly reviewed. In particular, novel catalysts developed through computational catalysis and intensified catalyst preparation were presented. The importance of CO_2 anion in CO_2 reduction has been discussed. The plasma enhanced catalyst preparation was used as an example to demonstrate the importance of the multi-disciplinary efforts. Catalysts with optimized structures for heat transfer performance and distribution of active sites for CO_2 conversion have also been discussed. Because of the complexity of global warming, some issues (for example the influence of change in the terrestrial magnetic field induced by human activity) are still not clear and call for more fundamental studies.