This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Porter, JR, Challinor, AJ, Henriksen, CB, Howden, SM, Martre, P, Smith, P. Invited review: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agriculture, and food—A case of shifting cultivation and history. Glob Change Biol. 2019; 25: 2518– 2529, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14700. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.