The relevance of the study is conditioned by the need for an in-depth study of decoupling as an indicator of the state's implementation effectiveness of sustainable development, which is dominant among the states in the context of current trends in the world economy. The purpose of the study is to improve and specify the theoretical foundations of decoupling economic growth from environmental damage. The methodological basis of the research includes the empirical analysis, synthesis, induction, comparison, hypothetical-deductive methods, as well as a systems approach to processing the studies of Ukrainian and foreign researchers, strategic environmental documents of reputable international organisations devoted to decoupling. The author identifies three content features of decoupling economic growth from environmental damage related to the economic system growth and the environmental damage it causes, as well as two groups of environmental damage factors: resource and environmental impact factors. The author improved the definition of decoupling based on the analysis of existing definitions, by identifying common content features in them and synthesising them. The study considers decoupling types and approaches to the classification of its degrees: according to the methodology of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as the methodology of P. Tapio. The research established that absolute decoupling is a priority step in the state's implementation of sustainable development, as it corresponds to the decoupling features defined in the course of the study and the basic principles of sustainable development. The study includes the effective development ways and intensification of decoupling within the framework of the state's implementation of sustainable development. The practical value of the research results is related to their further application in strategic planning at the national level, as well as in the development of an economic mechanism for stimulating the decoupling of economic growth from environmental damage.