The ecological quality of the Jinsha River Basin in Yunnan Province has been declining due to human activities and global climate change. Thus, conducting a comprehensive landscape ecological risk assessment is essential for reconciling ecological protection with economic development and fostering sustainable regional growth. This study analyzes land-use and cover change data to evaluate the landscape ecological risk in the Jinsha River Basin from 1985 to 2020. By calculating landscape pattern indices and utilizing GIS technology to create a landscape risk index model, we further investigate the spatiotemporal evolution patterns and influencing factors of ecological risk in the area. The results reveal that: (1) Between 1985 and 2020, the primary landscape types in the Jinsha River Basin were cultivated land, forest land, and grassland, collectively accounting for approximately 98% of the total area. Notably, built-up land has increased continuously while grassland has decreased. (2) The assessment indicates that the region predominantly experiences moderate, relatively high, and high ecological risks, comprising over 80% of the area, with moderate and relatively high risks being the most significant. High ecological risk areas are primarily concentrated in Kunming City and Qujing City. (3) The global Moran's I value consistently exceeds 0.2 and exhibits a downward trend, indicating a distribution of landscape ecological risk that is "high in the center, low at the edges," with local spatial autocorrelation characterized by "high-high" (H-H) and "low-low" (L-L) clusters. (4) Controlling for annual average precipitation reveals a positive correlation between annual average temperature and ecological risk while controlling for temperature shows a negative correlation between annual average shortprecipitation and ecological risk. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for optimizing land resources and promoting sustainable development in the Jinsha River Basin.