Green growth has gained ground in environmental governance deliberations and policy proposals in the last decades. It was initially presented as a fresh and innovative agenda centred on the deployment of engineering sophistication, managerial acumen, and market mechanisms to redress the environmental and social derelictions of the existing development model. But can the green growth project deliver environmental sustainability, social justice and the achievement of economic life upon a materially finite planet? The article argues that green growth has several theoretical flaws and empirical limitations. Even though economic growth has brought tremendous benefits to society, continued economic growth in rich countries faces difficulties, and growth per se is not delivering the benefits for the wider society in terms of quality of life, happiness and health, and environmental sustainability. Unlimited growth poses tremendous challenges to the planetary health, with implications in the long term. Within this context, the article ends with a discussion about the merits and demerits of alternative strategies and policies, asking the vital question: If not green growth, then what?