Over the past 5 years, sodium-glucose cotransport 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been increasingly regarded as glycaemic agents with cardiovascular (CV) and renal protective effects. The CV benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors have been well established in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and a range of CV comorbidities at baseline. Subsequently, the renal benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors were established in the CREDENCE trial, a dedicated renal outcome trial where canagliflozin reduced the primary composite renal outcome by 30%. In light of these trials, clinical practice guidelines have rapidly evolved, recommending the use of SGLT2 inhibitors as renal and cardioprotective agents in appropriate patient populations. Accordingly, it is important to have an in-depth understanding of the evidence underlying the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with T2D based on published clinical trials and real-world evidence (RWE) studies, as well as information related to potential safety concerns. To accomplish this, we reviewed the evidence for renal protection and safety with SGLT2 inhibitors in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME, CANVAS Program and DECLARE-TIMI 58 CV safety trials, and in the growing body of evidence emerging from real-world studies. This body of work has shown that SGLT2 inhibitors reduce the risk of surrogate renal endpoints such as albuminuria and mitigate the risk of hard renal endpoints including doubling of serum creatinine and end-stage kidney disease in patients with T2D. K E Y W O R D S diabetic nephropathy, SGLT2 inhibitor 1 | INTRODUCTION Sodium-glucose cotransport-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been in clinical use for >5 years and were originally developed and prescribed to achieve additional glucose lowering by inducing glycosuria. As part of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated requirements put in place in 2008, as a novel glucose lowering therapy, SGLT2 inhibitors underwent extensive safety evaluation in cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs). Accordingly, over the past 5 years, a large body of evidence has emerged from these CVOTs, and from observational realworld evidence (RWE) studies, as discussed and reviewed elsewhere. 1In stark contrast with other anti-hyperglycaemic agents assessed in CVOTs up to that time, SGLT2 inhibitors were shown to have substantial cardiovascular (CV) and renal protective effects across each medication in the class, and across all subgroups analysed to date.These CVOT results have transformed the way that SGLT2 inhibitors are thought about as therapies for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In perhaps, the same way that ACE inhibitors and ARBs were Vikas S. Sridhar and Habib U. Rahman are the co-first authors.