Promoted Cu/ZnO catalyst was synthesized on Al2O3-ZrO2 support. Effects of calcination conditions on the catalytic performance in a CO2 hydrogenation reaction were studied systematically using the response surface methodology (RSM). The application of RSM with rotatable central composite design (RCCD) for optimization on the influence of catalyst�s calcination variables on the CO2 conversion and methanol selectivity is presented. The calcination variables studied include temperature, A (181�518�C), ramping rate, B (1�30�C/min), and duration, C (1�7 h). From the RSM-generated model, the optimum calcination condition for this catalyst was 350�C with 17.5�C/min ramping rate for a 4 h duration. At the optimum calcination condition, the catalyst exhibited a Brunauer�Emmett�Teller (BET) surface area of 147 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.31 cm3/g, and a pore diameter of 8.1 nm. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.