This session examines emerging approaches to cardio-renal protection in chronic kidney disease, with a focus on earlier risk detection, mechanistic drivers of disease progression, and pharmacological strategies to improve kidney and cardiovascular outcomes. Leading experts discuss the importance of identifying high-risk patients earlier in primary care through combined assessment of estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Recent and ongoing clinical trial data are reviewed, including therapies targeting SGLT2 inhibition, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism, GLP-1 receptor agonism, aldosterone synthase inhibition and endothelin receptor antagonism.