Globally, the functioning and perpetuation of large economies are predicated mainly on utilising natural resources to power growth. With a focus on continuous growth, measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and similar indices, economic systems continue to exert pressure on finite resources contained within environmental systems. A combination of factors, ranging from rapidly changing world economic scenarios and the political economy, and changing aspirations of the developing world create a material-intensity that is often at loggerheads with the environment. Two centuries after the Industrial Revolution, the world of today is one with historically unprecedented levels of income and wealth inequality. This inequality is magnified through the lop-sided exposure of the poor to externalities created by environmental degradation. However, the recognition of the factors listed above have also led to radical and pathbreaking attempts to stem the flood through fundamental paradigmatic shifts in the way we look at economics and the environment. Scenarios that promote a ‘business as usual’ approach are increasingly being recognised as inimical to social and environmental concerns, thereby paving the way for ideologies such as green growth, de-growth, and the green new deal.