Environmental sustainability and inclusive engagement have had numerous interpretations over the past decades, with small island states being at the forefront of seeking and applying multiple approaches. This short review selects key peer-reviewed papers from 2020 to mid-2022 on the topic of inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability in small island states. It particularly focuses on and presents different approaches to and representations of inclusive engagement, environmental sustainability and their intersection. Much is obscured through complicated jargon and processes, in terms of knowledge systems valued, wordings expressed and underlying assumptions. Nonetheless, many of the papers selected provide important and beneficial contributions to support depth in and action for key aspects that have not always been fully recognised or applied in science or in practice.