In recent years, the negative impact of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions on our planet’s climate has motivated a progressive transition from a global energy scenario heavily reliant on fossil fuels to one based on environmentally benign, renewable energy sources. However, various projections clarify that, in the short-to-medium term, fossil fuels will continue to be needed, and renewables will not be sufficient to replace them. To compensate excessive CO₂ emission from burning fossil fuels, many strategies such as CO₂ capture and storage technologies have been applied.

Some energy companies, such as Shell and Chevron have launched projects for capturing and storing millions of tons of CO₂ annually. However, the long-term solution for a sustainable development is the shift of conventional fossil fuels to renewables. Meanwhile, one of the most interesting and challenging strategies to mitigate the disastrous effect of carbon dioxide on earth’s climate, is to consider CO₂ as valuable raw material to obtain value-added fuels and chemicals through its photo/electrochemical reduction (CO₂RR). This approach reduces the dependence on fossil fuels and represents a further step towards achieving a Circular Economy. At present, there are still significant scientific and technological challenges for energy-efficient, economically and environmentally viable CO₂ conversion processes. In this symposium, some key challenges and future perspectives for this application are presented and discussed.