Driven by the need to develop technologies for converting CO2, an extraordinary array of chemical looping based process concepts has been proposed and researched over the past 15 years. This review aims at providing first a historical context of the molecule CO2, which sits at the center of these developments. Then, different types of chemical looping related to CO2 are addressed, with attention to process concepts, looping materials, and reactor configurations. Herein, focus lies on the direct conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a process deemed to have economic potential.