Integrating the environment into economics requires a conception of uncertain and irreversible time (regarding actions, decisions, and policies). The tools, methods, and theories developed in mainstream economics integrate the environment only by neutralizing both of these time-related effects. Social-ecological economics is more concerned with providing a more realistic vision of environmental problems, accounting for uncertainties and irreversibility. Even if the underlying conception of time leads to analytical and epistemological problems, we advocate clarifications on how time is dealt with in social-ecological economics.