Empagliflozin, a sodium–glucose cotransporter type 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, has enabled remarkable reductions in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality as well as in renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and a history of cardiovascular disease in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME. These results have been attributed to haemodynamic rather than metabolic effects, in part due to the osmotic/diuretic action of empagliflozin and the reduction in arterial blood pressure (BP). The present narrative review includes the results of meta-analyses of trials evaluating the effects on renal outcomes of lowering BP in patients with T2D, with a special focus on the influence of baseline and achieved systolic BP, and compares the renal outcome results of the EMPA-REG OUTCOME with those of other major trials with inhibitors of the renin–angiotensin system in patients with T2D and the preliminary findings with other SGLT2 inhibitors, and also evaluates post hoc analyses from the EMPA-REG OUTCOME of special interest as regards the BP-lowering hypothesis and renal function. While systemic BP reduction associated to empagliflozin therapy may have contributed to the renal benefits reported in EMPA-REG OUTCOME, other local mechanisms related to kidney homoeostasis most probably also played a role in the overall protection observed in the trial.