In addition to serving as a major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, CO2 is also a valued renewable C1 resource. Converting CO2 into valuable chemicals has dual significance in the aspect of environmental protection and rational utilization of carbon resources. The efficient catalytic conversion of ethane a significant component of shale gas to ethylene not only has important theoretical research significance, but also has broad industrial application prospects. Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane under CO2 atmosphere (CO2-ODHE) has become one of the most effective means of increasing ethylene production. This paper focuses on the different types of catalysts, and the main factors and the key issues that control and manipulate the catalytic activity and stability of the CO2-ODHE reaction. This review also introduces the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (O2-ODHE) and chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (CL-ODHE). Finally, combined with the reaction mechanism, potential directions and development prospects of constructing high efficiency catalyst are put forward.