Atmospheric carbon dioxide（ CO2） is a primary greenhouse gas

whose concentration and geographic distribution are the key points in global change research. Since 1998

space-based observation has been an important technique for the remote sensing of CO2 concentration. We present an overview of the advances in space-based remote sensing of CO2

including the development of remote sensors and inverse algorithms

as well as the calibration of retrieved results. We analyze the uncertainties in inverse methods from observations of both thermal infrared and shortwave infrared techniques. The potential development of CO2 retrieval is discussed at the end of this paper.