With the acceleration of industrialization and excessive use of carbon-rich fossil fuel, oil, coal, and natural gases, the atmospheric CO₂ concentration has reached an unprecedented high level (420 ppm),  resulting in global warming. According to the International Energy Agency, a massive amount of CO₂ gas (35 billion metric tons) was released into the atmosphere in the year 2020. As a result, the environment and energy have emerged as the most pressing challenges of the 21^st century. In the recent climate change at the Glasgow 2021 summit, India has pledged to achieve net zero emission by 2070. In this presentation, I will discuss our recent efforts to achieve the goal of carbon-neutral energy systems. The direct chemical conversion of CO₂ into fuels and valuable chemicals may be a viable solution to this problem. Formic acid (FA), an excellent liquid hydrogen carrier (53 g/L), has been a promising molecule for achieving renewable and decarbonized energy supply. Our efforts in the development of a mixed metal oxide-based heterogeneous catalyst for direct hydrogenation of CO₂ to formic acid/formate will be discussed.