Documentation of the impacts of climate change in addition to strategies of mitigation and adaptation of societies in Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) is increasing, although often with an emphasis on SIDS located in the Caribbean and Pacific whereas all SIDS deserve full and equal attention. Based on these resources, mitigation and adaptation policies are supposed to reduce the effects of climate change and the vulnerability of the most exposed populations. However, are local communities’ needs and interests central to the strategies ? Is traditional knowledge recognized and used with scientific expertise in order to address challenges and opportunities faced by populations ? This article aims to critically assess the way climate change issues are documented and addressed for SIDS at different scales. Certain programs and projects are then presented to highlight the issues raised by local voices in SIDS. This underlines the necessity to tackle climate change issues through broader perspectives linking to sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and poverty alleviation, always including local voices. Moreover, actions of multiple stakeholders must reconcile the differences between the political, spatial and temporal scales. Finally, more attention needs to be focused upon non-Caribbean and non-Pacific SIDS in order to balance and expand the material available on SIDS facing climate change and to acknowledge the diversity of challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.