Climate change is fundamentally altering the ecological and epidemiological relationships between plants and fungal pathogens. Increasing temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, drought, extreme weather events and changing seasonal dynamics can influence fungal growth, reproduction, dispersal, survival, host susceptibility and disease development. These environmental changes are contributing to shifts in the geographical distribution, seasonal occurrence and intensity of several fungal plant diseases while creating opportunities for pathogens to colonize new hosts and environments. Climate-driven changes in plant physiology and immunity may further increase susceptibility to infection, particularly when plants experience simultaneous abiotic and biotic stresses. Fungal pathogens can respond rapidly to environmental changes through physiological plasticity, genetic adaptation and shifts in population structure, potentially generating new disease risks for agricultural production. Changes in temperature and moisture can also influence infection cycles, spore production, overwintering, pathogen evolution and the effectiveness of conventional disease-management practices. Consequently, traditional disease-control strategies based primarily on historical climatic patterns may become less reliable under future environmental conditions. Sustainable management requires integration of resistant cultivars, biological control, improved cultural practices, precision irrigation, disease forecasting, molecular diagnostics, integrated pest and disease management, and climate-resilient agricultural systems. Advances in genomics, transcriptomics, remote sensing, artificial intelligence and epidemiological modelling provide new opportunities for predicting disease emergence and developing adaptive management strategies. This review examines the influence of major climate variables on fungal plant pathogens, mechanisms underlying climate-driven disease emergence, epidemiological shifts, host–pathogen interactions, pathogen adaptation and sustainable approaches for managing fungal diseases under changing climatic conditions.
