There have been several advances in the cathode materials to reduce charge-discharge overpotential and improve round-trip energy efficiency of alkali metal-CO2 batteries since the commencement of metal-CO2 battery research over a decade ago. Carbonaceous materials, including ketjen black (KB), are widely employed as cathode matrices in metal-CO2 batteries due to their favorable attributes such as high electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and adjustable surface area. However, the catalytic performance of nonpolar carbon materials is limited. To address this, recent research has focused on developing heteroatom-doped and nanostructured carbon materials. The addition of doped pyridinic nitrogen atoms increases energy storage capacity by facilitating the passage of CO2 and Li into the active sites and catalyzing the CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RR) and CO2 evolution reactions (CO2ER) processes. Again, all-solid-state Na-CO2 batteries developed with the improved N-doped nanocarbon showed a discharge capacity (10,500 mA hg -1 ), lower overpotential, longer cycling, and an increased energy density. Despite the large surface area and high electronic conductivity of carbonaceous materials, their low CO2 electrocatalytic activity impedes their effectiveness as cathode catalysts. Consequently, the exploration of transition metal (TM)-based cathodes has emerged as a promising avenue to achieve high-performance metal-CO2 batteries.