Abstract: Under the influence of topographical factors, the spatial characteristics of the vegetation system in the western Sichuan plateau are obviously different in the vertical direction. Taking MODIS EVI remote sensing data as the vegetation dynamic monitoring index, the variation law of EVI along the elevation gradient in the western Sichuan Plateau from 2000 to 2015 was analyzed. Then based on the air temperature and precipitation data from 39 meteorological stations in and near the western Sichuan Plateau, the response of vegetation EVI to climate change was studied. The results showed that: (1) In the recent 16 years, the vegetation EVI showed a fluctuated increasing trend with a rate of 0.8%/10 a and increased along the altitude gradient at first and then decreased. The vertical distribution was significantly different. (2) The change trend of vegetation EVI in the western Sichuan Plateau is in a stable state as a whole, and the improvement area is more than the degenerated area. In the low altitude area (<1 000 m), the vegetation EVI degenerated seriously due to the disturbance of human activities. In the middle altitude, the hydrothermal conditions are sufficient, which is conducive to vegetation growth, and the vegetation is gradually improved, but some local area is slightly degraded. In the high altitude area (>4 000 m), the fluctuation of vegetation EVI is relatively low, and the EVI tends to be stable. (3)Vegetation EVI changes in different altitudes are affected by climate in different ways. The growth of vegetation in the high-altitude area of the western Sichuan Plateau is mainly controlled by temperature, while that in the medium-altitude area is greatly affected by precipitation. (4) At the significance level of 0.05, the vegetation EVI change in the western Sichuan Plateau is driven by non-climatic factors with a wide area distribution of about 84.22%, while the proportion of area driven by climate factors is 15.78%. And the driving force of air temperature on vegetation growth and distribution is stronger than precipitation.