Conversion of CO 2 to chemicals and fuels is one of the key approaches for reducing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. In this regard, the direct carbonylation of glycerol (GLY) and CO 2 into glycerol carbonate (GLC) is an important and promising conversion as it converts the two wastes into a value-added product. However, the high kinetic barrier associated with the thermodynamic stability of CO 2 challenges the development of highly productive and durable catalytic systems for this direct coupling reaction. Herein, ternary metal oxide catalysts consisting of Mg−Zn−Ce with truncated nanopolyhedral structures are prepared by the coprecipitation method with improved acidity/basicity and surface oxygen vacancy properties. The prepared mingled mixed oxide nanocatalysts are found to be highly efficient in converting GLY/CO 2 to GLC, achieving an excellent GLY conversion of about 90% with an unprecedented GLC productivity of 4.64 mmol g cat −1 h −1 using the 10Mg/10Zn/CeO 2 catalyst in the presence of 2-cyanopyridine dehydrant at 150 °C under 4.0 MPa of CO 2 pressure. Studies on the catalyst structure-activity relationship revealed that the synergistic cooperation between the surface oxygen vacancies and acid−base sites together with the surface area played a key role in enhancing the CO 2 carbonylation activity. Therefore, this work provides a promising strategy to design nanostructured ternary oxide catalysts for the construction of highly efficient CO 2 carbonylation catalysts.