Infrastructural growth and expansion continue across much of the planet, with an estimated 3.0–4.7 million kilometers of new road set to be built before 2050. Yet understanding the strategies behind this growth, the funders responsible, and how environmental mitigation strategies vary tremendously. Here, we provide an overview of some of the major infrastructural development initiatives, their funding, and the policies and partnerships between various funding agencies and conservation agencies. We highlight the risk of unsustainable development where few policies are in place to organize and enforce environmental impact assessments and recommendations, and conversely the opportunity of green finance and even environmental (green) bonds in facilitating sustainable development. Ultimately infrastructure and global infrastructure investment gaps (especially in developing countries) cannot be ignored from an environmental standpoint, and proactive actions to mitigate against potential issues and even explore opportunities around offsetting are needed to reduce unsustainable impacts of infrastructure expansion.