Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 is centered on three main pillars: industry, infrastructure and innovation. With 8 targets and 12 indicators, SDG 9 will have multiple impacts on forests, forest-based livelihoods and forest-based economies. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review, we conclude that major trade-offs will exist between SDG 9 and SDG 15 (sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems), especially if economic expansion and increasing planetary impacts remain coupled. More specifically, the implementation of Target 9.1 and its corresponding indicators (road, infrastructure and transportation expansion) may lead to irreversible and widespread forest degradation and deforestation. As such, the short- and long-term environmental and social costs of this goal need to be better assessed, especially in light of the fact that other SDG 9 targets (e.g. small-scale industry expansion (Target 9.3); access to information and communications technology (Target 9.c)) may have diverse consequences for forests and livelihoods, depending on how they are applied. We call for reforms of SDG 9 to promote and support alternative socio-economic models that are not based on indefinite economic growth, nor reliant on the ongoing expansion of infrastructure, but, rather, necessitate forests and terrestrial ecosystem services to be essential building blocks of a green and sustainable economy.