This is the peer-reviewed version of the article "Plant phenology and global climate change: current progresses and challenges" published in Global Change Biology (2019; 25: 1922–1940), available at https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14619. The article is protected by copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without permission. It may not be modified or transformed into a derivative work without express permission from Wiley. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured, or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley's version of record on Wiley Online Library, and any third-party embedding, framing, or distribution must be prohibited. The article reviews recent progress in understanding plant phenology and its interactions with climate change. It focuses on the start (leaf unfolding) and end (leaf coloring) of plant growing seasons, highlighting the benefits of ground- and remote sensing-based phenology data acquisition. Recent studies using multiple data sources agree on the trends of advanced leaf unfolding and delayed leaf coloring due to climate change, though these trends have slowed or reversed in recent years. Understanding the mechanisms behind plant phenology responses to climate warming remains limited, and interactions between multiple drivers complicate modeling and prediction. Changes in plant phenology have important implications for ecosystem carbon cycles and climate feedbacks, but quantifying these impacts remains challenging. Future studies should focus on improving understanding of tropical plant phenology, enhancing process-based phenology modeling, and scaling phenology from species to landscape levels. The article discusses methodological advances in plant phenology research, including ground-based observations, remote-sensing-based observations, multi-source data fusion, manipulative experiments, and phenology modeling approaches. It highlights the importance of temperature, photoperiod, nutrient and water availability, and interactions among phenological events in driving plant phenological changes. The article also reviews evidence for recent plant phenological changes, showing earlier spring phenology and delayed autumn phenology across various regions. It discusses the ecological and climatic impacts of these changes, emphasizing the need for further research to understand and predict the effects of climate change on plant phenology and ecosystems.This is the peer-reviewed version of the article "Plant phenology and global climate change: current progresses and challenges" published in Global Change Biology (2019; 25: 1922–1940), available at https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14619. The article is protected by copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without permission. It may not be modified or transformed into a derivative work without express permission from Wiley. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured, or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley's version of record on Wiley Online Library, and any third-party embedding, framing, or distribution must be prohibited. The article reviews recent progress in understanding plant phenology and its interactions with climate change. It focuses on the start (leaf unfolding) and end (leaf coloring) of plant growing seasons, highlighting the benefits of ground- and remote sensing-based phenology data acquisition. Recent studies using multiple data sources agree on the trends of advanced leaf unfolding and delayed leaf coloring due to climate change, though these trends have slowed or reversed in recent years. Understanding the mechanisms behind plant phenology responses to climate warming remains limited, and interactions between multiple drivers complicate modeling and prediction. Changes in plant phenology have important implications for ecosystem carbon cycles and climate feedbacks, but quantifying these impacts remains challenging. Future studies should focus on improving understanding of tropical plant phenology, enhancing process-based phenology modeling, and scaling phenology from species to landscape levels. The article discusses methodological advances in plant phenology research, including ground-based observations, remote-sensing-based observations, multi-source data fusion, manipulative experiments, and phenology modeling approaches. It highlights the importance of temperature, photoperiod, nutrient and water availability, and interactions among phenological events in driving plant phenological changes. The article also reviews evidence for recent plant phenological changes, showing earlier spring phenology and delayed autumn phenology across various regions. It discusses the ecological and climatic impacts of these changes, emphasizing the need for further research to understand and predict the effects of climate change on plant phenology and ecosystems.