diff --git a/gigl/common/logger.py b/gigl/common/logger.py
index 3dd98bb81..67184b7e2 100644
--- a/gigl/common/logger.py
+++ b/gigl/common/logger.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 from google.cloud import logging as google_cloud_logging
 
+from gigl.env.constants import GIGL_DEBUG, is_env_flag_enabled
+
 _BASE_LOG_FILE_PATH = "/tmp/research/gbml/logs"
 
 
@@ -19,6 +21,8 @@ class Logger(logging.LoggerAdapter):
         extra (Optional[dict[str, Any]]): Extra information to be added to the log message.
     """
 
+    _DID_ALERT_FOR_LOG_LEVEL: bool = False
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         logger: Optional[logging.Logger] = None,
@@ -26,14 +30,29 @@ def __init__(
         log_to_file: bool = False,
         extra: Optional[dict[str, Any]] = None,
     ):
+        gigl_debug = is_env_flag_enabled(GIGL_DEBUG)
+        if gigl_debug:
+            log_level = logging.DEBUG
+        else:
+            log_level = logging.INFO
+
         if logger is None:
             logger = logging.getLogger(name)
-            self._setup_logger(logger, name, log_to_file)
+            self._setup_logger(logger, name, log_to_file, log_level)
 
         super().__init__(logger, extra or {})
 
+        if not Logger._DID_ALERT_FOR_LOG_LEVEL:
+            Logger._DID_ALERT_FOR_LOG_LEVEL = True
+            level_name = logging.getLevelName(log_level)
+            self.info(f"{GIGL_DEBUG}={gigl_debug}, using log level {level_name}")
+
     def _setup_logger(
-        self, logger: logging.Logger, name: Optional[str], log_to_file: bool
+        self,
+        logger: logging.Logger,
+        name: Optional[str],
+        log_to_file: bool,
+        log_level: int,
     ) -> None:
         handler: logging.Handler
         if not logger.handlers:
@@ -42,7 +61,7 @@ def _setup_logger(
             ):
                 # Google Cloud Logging
                 client = google_cloud_logging.Client()
-                client.setup_logging(log_level=logging.INFO)
+                client.setup_logging(log_level=log_level)
             else:
                 # Logging locally. Set up logging to console or file
                 if log_to_file:
@@ -61,7 +80,7 @@ def _setup_logger(
                 )
                 handler.setFormatter(formatter)
                 logger.addHandler(handler)
-            logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+            logger.setLevel(log_level)
 
     def process(self, msg: str, kwargs: MutableMapping[str, Any]) -> Any:
         if "extra" in kwargs:
diff --git a/gigl/distributed/base_dist_loader.py b/gigl/distributed/base_dist_loader.py
index 919d939a0..79e5c8b98 100644
--- a/gigl/distributed/base_dist_loader.py
+++ b/gigl/distributed/base_dist_loader.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 - Graph Store mode: barrier loop + async RPC dispatch + channel creation
 """
 
-import os
 import sys
 import time
 from collections import Counter
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@
     patch_fanout_for_sampling,
     strip_non_ppr_edge_types,
 )
-from gigl.env.constants import GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING
+from gigl.env.constants import GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING, is_env_flag_enabled
 from gigl.src.common.utils.metrics_service_provider import get_metrics_service_instance
 from gigl.types.graph import DEFAULT_HOMOGENEOUS_NODE_TYPE
 from gigl.utils.share_memory import share_memory
@@ -452,10 +451,7 @@ def create_colocated_channel(
             RuntimeError: If GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING is set but user did not previously call
                 `gigl.src.common.utils.metrics_service_provider.initialize_metrics()`.
         """
-        enable_channel_monitoring = os.environ.get(
-            GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING, ""
-        ).strip().lower() in ("1", "True")
-        if enable_channel_monitoring:
+        if is_env_flag_enabled(GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING):
             logger.info(f"{GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING} set, using MonitoredShmChannel")
             try:
                 get_metrics_service_instance()
diff --git a/gigl/env/constants.py b/gigl/env/constants.py
index 9b9633b15..425bce1b6 100644
--- a/gigl/env/constants.py
+++ b/gigl/env/constants.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 GIGL_COMPONENT_ENV_KEY: Final[str] = "GIGL_COMPONENT"
 GIGL_BIGQUERY_QUOTA_PROJECT_ENV_KEY: Final[str] = "GIGL_BIGQUERY_QUOTA_PROJECT"
 GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING: Final[str] = "GIGL_ENABLE_PERF_MONITORING"
+GIGL_DEBUG: Final[str] = "GIGL_DEBUG"
 
 
 def read_resource_config_uri_from_env() -> Optional[str]:
@@ -33,3 +34,8 @@ def read_resource_config_uri_from_env() -> Optional[str]:
         The URI string if the variable is set, else ``None``.
     """
     return os.environ.get(GIGL_RESOURCE_CONFIG_URI_ENV_KEY)
+
+
+def is_env_flag_enabled(env_var_name: str) -> bool:
+    """Parses an environment variable and returns True iff the variable is set to '1' or 'True' (case-insensitive)."""
+    return os.environ.get(env_var_name, "").strip().lower() in ("1", "true")
diff --git a/tests/unit/env/constants.py b/tests/unit/env/constants.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d138b184a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/env/constants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import os
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from gigl.env.constants import is_env_flag_enabled
+from tests.test_assets.test_case import TestCase
+
+
+class EnvFlagEnabledTest(TestCase):
+    def test_env_flag_disabled(self):
+        env_var = "TEST_ENV_VAR"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {}):
+            self.assertFalse(is_env_flag_enabled(env_var))
+
+    def test_env_flag_enabled_1(self):
+        env_var = "TEST_ENV_VAR"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {env_var: "1"}):
+            self.assertTrue(is_env_flag_enabled(env_var))
+
+    def test_env_flag_enabled_True(self):
+        env_var = "TEST_ENV_VAR"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {env_var: "True"}):
+            self.assertTrue(is_env_flag_enabled(env_var))
+
+    def test_env_flag_enabled_true(self):
+        env_var = "TEST_ENV_VAR"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {env_var: "true"}):
+            self.assertTrue(is_env_flag_enabled(env_var))
+
+    def test_env_flag_enabled_true_with_whitespace(self):
+        env_var = "TEST_ENV_VAR"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {env_var: "  true "}):
+            self.assertTrue(is_env_flag_enabled(env_var))