Perhaps every century mankind has faced an existential challenge. The 21st century has exposed humanity to higher challenges. It has also been called as the ‘Age of the Anthropocene.’ Human-centric activity has put intense pressure on natural resources, generated global pollution and challenges in the form of forest fires, submergence of low-lying island nations, conflict over resources, and other natural disasters. Whether it is the triple planetary crisis of rapid loss of biodiversity, pollution, climate change and its consequences or pandemics such as COVID-19, the cumulative effects of such pressure on natural resources have given rise to an existential crisis. This has been in the form of myriad of factors such as increasing poverty; disruption of life and livelihood; isolation of indigenous communities; lack of adequate social security schemes during the pandemic; destruction and disease due to climate related disasters; change in land use patterns for infrastructure development amongst others. The contemporary challenges that we face compel one to examine the reasons for dysfunction within ecosystems, within law and policy for governance of natural resources and for restricting harm to the environment. One can also critically examine the current laws and prevalent policy for the effect it has on people and natural resources held by the State for the people under the ‘public trust doctrine’.