Small island states and territories have been leading climate action in many ways. In this issue, we highlight climate change research conducted on large ocean islands and how science can improve to help them adapt to changing environments.

Small island states and territories are often seen as particularly vulnerable to climate change, which affects the shape of the land, its ecosystems and the resources that people depend on. Nature Climate Change asked a selection of scientists from different island states and territories to discuss the role that climate science and action has in supporting island communities.

Projections of the future climate of small island states and territories are currently limited by the coarse resolution of models. We call for rapid global and regional cooperation to develop projections compatible with small island scales, providing relevant local information and decision-making tools.

Studies show climate change will alter the ocean, with increased surface layer kinetic energy. This work, using full ocean depth and high-resolution projections with a high-emission scenario, shows an overall ocean kinetic energy decrease due to a calmer deep ocean with weaker mesoscale eddies.

The future of carbon dynamics in the northern high latitudes is uncertain yet represents an important potential feedback under climate change. This study uses a comprehensive observational dataset to show an increasing carbon sink in non-permafrost systems; in permafrost systems uptake was offset by loss.

Assisted migration is the artificial movement of species and populations to increase forest resilience. Here the authors model how targeted assisted migration can preserve or enhance the European forest carbon sink under future climate scenarios.

It is important to understand the cost-effectiveness of natural regeneration and plantations, which are common reforestation methods for mitigation. The authors estimate and map abatement costs for the two approaches across low- and mid-income countries, helping to guide reforestation initiatives.

The Southern Ocean takes up substantial amounts of heat and carbon. Here the authors show that it has historically accounted for a much greater proportion of global ocean heat uptake—and link this to aerosols depressing uptake in northern oceans—but that future heat and carbon uptake will become more comparable.

Climate change is increasing ocean temperature, particularly in the surface waters. Here the authors show that accelerated surface warming in the North Pacific in the past decade is driven by shoaling of the ocean mixed layer with some dampening by increased latent heat loss from the ocean.

Currently, no comprehensive scientific methodology of corporate risk quantification, in response to new disclosure regulations, has been proposed in the literature. Here we develop fundamental principles that are important for the appropriate use of climate scenario science in transition risk assessments.

Projections of the future climate of small island states and territories are currently limited by the coarse resolution of models. We call for rapid global and regional cooperation to develop projections compatible with small island scales, providing relevant local information and decision-making tools.

Small island states and territories have been leading climate action in many ways. In this issue, we highlight climate change research conducted on large ocean islands and how science can improve to help them adapt to changing environments.

Adaptation evidence and knowledge are diverse and unequally represented in global adaptation discourse. The Adaptation Futures 2023 conference sought to bring this diversity together to advance more inclusive and impactful adaptation science, and confronted both the benefits and the trade-offs that this effort entails.

To accept carbon pricing, citizens desire viable alternatives to fossil fuel-based options. As inflation and higher interest rates have exacerbated access barriers for capital-intensive green substitutes, the political success of carbon pricing will be measured by how well policy design enables consumers to switch.