These data are part of a data portal that accompanies the special issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture,' published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B in 2023. To access the data portal, please visit 10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4h4. This data set provides the summary of translated interviews with 20 participants from the two research sites in the small Pacific island state of Samoa. The field data was collected between June and August 2021.

Talanoa Methodology: This study employs a comparative qualitative case study approach using talanoa style conversational interviews. Talanoa literally means ‘talk freely’ and is a term used across the Pacific Islands. It has been developed into a research methodology suitable to conduct interviews in Pacific Island communities as it replicates a space of everyday life on islands in which people share stories and experiences (Vaioleti, 2006; Suaali’i-Sauni, 2012). This method helps remove psychological distance and reduces the power differential between interviewer and interviewee and allowed the participants to share their stories in a relaxed atmosphere.