The unprecedented deterioration of the global environment has increased the necessity of relying on green economic policies as critical and effective environmental management tools. The current situation has stimulated extensive research and debate among global interest groups. This in turn has fostered an ever-growing volume of literature that provides a picture of the best measures affecting the establishment of the green economy, including its development and outcomes. This paper provides a survey of the green economy in a form that non-specialist readers will be able to understand. First, it reviews the recent developments in the green economy - its theoretical foundation, political background and developmental strategies towards genuine, sustainable development. It then discusses the circular economy, networks, organisations, policies, infrastructure and measurable expected effects. Since the theoretical and empirical results and findings regarding the green economy and its practice lead to a number of conclusions regarding measuring improvements, outcomes and identifying causal effects, the paper next discusses these. Finally, it provides summaries of current and possible future green development tendencies with a focus on directions, policy, organisations, capacity, areas and interventions and provides extensions that can serve as optimal directions for future research and policy.