diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index ef1ac5a97c..ccdc71933a 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ The following constants are globally available in a Nextflow configuration file:
 `projectDir`
 : The directory where the main script is located.
 
+## Functions
+
+The following functions are globally available in a Nextflow configuration file:
+
+`env( name )`
+: :::{versionadded} 24.11.0-edge
+  :::
+: Get the value of the environment variable with the specified name in the Nextflow launch environment.
+
 (config-params)=
 
 ## Parameters
diff --git a/docs/reference/stdlib.md b/docs/reference/stdlib.md
index 8c09f1ac96..633e51b0eb 100644
--- a/docs/reference/stdlib.md
+++ b/docs/reference/stdlib.md
@@ -197,6 +197,11 @@ The following functions are available in Nextflow scripts:
 `branchCriteria( closure )`
 : Create a branch criteria to use with the {ref}`operator-branch` operator.
 
+`env( name )`
+: :::{versionadded} 24.11.0-edge
+  :::
+: Get the value of the environment variable with the specified name in the Nextflow launch environment.
+
 `error( message = null )`
 : Throw a script runtime error with an optional error message.
 
diff --git a/docs/vscode.md b/docs/vscode.md
index f132368289..c889ddb27c 100644
--- a/docs/vscode.md
+++ b/docs/vscode.md
@@ -275,6 +275,14 @@ The Nextflow language specification does not support implicit environment variab
 println "PWD = ${System.getenv('PWD')}"
 ```
 
+:::{versionadded} 24.11.0-edge
+The `env()` function can be used instead of `System.getenv()`:
+
+```nextflow
+println "PWD = ${env('PWD')}"
+```
+:::
+
 ### Restricted syntax
 
 The following patterns are still supported but have been restricted, i.e. some syntax variants have been removed.
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
index 3f1257a01c..e7dc15884c 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/Nextflow.groovy
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ class Nextflow {
 
     private static final Random random = new Random()
 
+    /**
+     * Get the value of an environment variable from the launch environment.
+     *
+     * @param name
+     *      The environment variable name to be referenced
+     * @return
+     *      The value associate with the specified variable name or {@code null} if the variable does not exist.
+     */
+    static String env(String name) {
+        return SysEnv.get(name)
+    }
 
     static private fileNamePattern( FilePatternSplitter splitter, Map opts ) {
 
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigBase.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigBase.groovy
index 46a6f182da..a97e23f19a 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigBase.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigBase.groovy
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@
 
 package nextflow.config
 
-import ch.artecat.grengine.Grengine
-import groovy.transform.Memoized
-
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException
 import java.nio.file.Path
 
+import ch.artecat.grengine.Grengine
+import groovy.transform.Memoized
+import nextflow.SysEnv
 import nextflow.exception.IllegalConfigException
 import nextflow.file.FileHelper
 import org.codehaus.groovy.control.CompilerConfiguration
@@ -74,6 +74,18 @@ abstract class ConfigBase extends Script {
         this.configStack = stack
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the value of an environment variable from the launch environment.
+     *
+     * @param name
+     *      The environment variable name to be referenced
+     * @return
+     *      The value associate with the specified variable name or {@code null} if the variable does not exist.
+     */
+    String env(String name) {
+        return SysEnv.get(name)
+    }
+
     /**
      * Implements the config file include
      */
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
index c32a461ecb..f49db65779 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/NextflowTest.groovy
@@ -35,6 +35,17 @@ class NextflowTest extends Specification {
         System.getenv('CI_GROOVY_VERSION') == GroovySystem.getVersion()
     }
 
+    def 'should get an environment variable' () {
+        given:
+        SysEnv.push(FOO: 'FOO_VALUE')
+
+        expect:
+        Nextflow.env('FOO') == 'FOO_VALUE'
+
+        cleanup:
+        SysEnv.pop()
+    }
+
     def testFile() {
         expect:
         Nextflow.file('file.log').toFile() == new File('file.log').canonicalFile
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigParserTest.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigParserTest.groovy
index ebe6f02e47..a128f0fd36 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigParserTest.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/config/ConfigParserTest.groovy
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 package nextflow.config
 
-import spock.lang.Ignore
-
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException
 import java.nio.file.Path
@@ -26,11 +24,12 @@ import com.sun.net.httpserver.Headers
 import com.sun.net.httpserver.HttpExchange
 import com.sun.net.httpserver.HttpHandler
 import com.sun.net.httpserver.HttpServer
+import nextflow.SysEnv
 import nextflow.exception.ConfigParseException
-import spock.lang.Specification
-
 import nextflow.util.Duration
 import nextflow.util.MemoryUnit
+import spock.lang.Ignore
+import spock.lang.Specification
 
 /**
  *
@@ -38,6 +37,23 @@ import nextflow.util.MemoryUnit
  */
 class ConfigParserTest extends Specification {
 
+    def 'should get an environment variable' () {
+        given:
+        SysEnv.push(MAX_CPUS: '1')
+
+        when:
+        def CONFIG = '''
+        process.cpus = env('MAX_CPUS')
+        '''
+        def config = new ConfigParser().parse(CONFIG)
+
+        then:
+        config.process.cpus == '1'
+
+        cleanup:
+        SysEnv.pop()
+    }
+
     def 'should parse plugins id' () {
         given:
         def CONFIG = '''