Climate-tectonic-erosion interactions have recently become a research hotspot in Earth science as a significant aspect of geosphere interactions near the Earth’s surface. Here, studies related to climate-tectonic-erosion interactions over the past 30 years are reviewed mainly from three fields: analytical treatment, numerical modelling, and field verification, and it is suggested that advancement of near-surface geosphere interaction research has been limited by the thought pattern of cause and effect. Orogenic belts are best viewed as evolving open systems driven by energy from endogenous and exogenous forces. An orogenic system with a tendency towards equilibrium will respond to perturbations in endogenous and exogenous forces and also exert impacts on relatively independent endogenous and exogenous factors. Beyond cause and effect, the system-oriented view of orogenic evolution can resolve controversial issues in the study of climate-tectonic-erosion interactions.