The PersoNa — Personal Narratives in Climate Litigation
MUR Starting Grant FIS-2023-01203 · University of Padova, FISPPA Department · 2026–2029
About the Project
What can judges learn about climate change from climate-affected people? How is this knowledge entering court cases? Which effects does the narration of lived climate impacts have in such cases?Mounting concern about climate change has urged people to challenge laws, policies and projects through climate litigation, that is, court cases aimed at setting case law precedent to advance climate change mitigation efforts from responsible entities such as governments. Although most of these cases rely on evidence from institutional science, recent cases such as KlimaSeniorinnen et al. v. Switzerland and Duarte et al. v. Portugal et al. present an interesting emphasis on the perspective of the affected people and their experience of climate impacts on everyday life. At present, however, the role of personal narratives, i.e., accounts of lived climate impacts, in climate litigation is largely unresearched. The project PersoNa will study systematically the emerging use of personal narratives in climate litigation and their impacts on judges, lawyers, the parties, and on broader societal engagement with such litigation. The project will also explore under which conditions personal narratives are recognized as credible evidence to ground standing or demonstrate harm and will identify barriers that such evidence may encounter. The methodology combines literature and legal review, ethnography, Critical Discourse Analysis applied to societal discussions, and Text Mining applied to court rulings. The time range covers climate litigation initiated in the last 15 years, from the filing of the Urgenda Foundation v. Netherlands case in 2013. The geographical coverage is global, with ethnographic research carried out in 10 locations.
Reference: Berti Suman A, Burnette A. A place for people’s knowledge in climate evidence: Exploring civic evidence in climate litigation. RECIEL. 2024; 33(3): 383-396. doi: 10.1111/reel.12552
Recent Activities
April 2026 — Padova Climate Action Week
On 15 April 2026, PersoNa held its first public event as part of the “Padova Climate Action Week” at the University of Padova. Over 50 participants gathered to discuss how the voices of those directly affected by climate impacts can become relevant evidence in court. Scientists, legal scholars, journalists, and activists explored the role of personal narratives in climate litigation.
May 2026 — Climate Migration and the Tribunal of L’Aquila
On 19 May 2026, the PersoNa team accompanied R.M., a Bangladeshi national requesting subsidiary protection on climate grounds, to his hearing at the Tribunal of L’Aquila. It is one of the first cases in Italy where a personal narrative of climate impacts enters a courtroom as explicit legal evidence. The team also presented at the “Migration Beyond Emergency” Symposium at University College Dublin on 29 May 2026.
June 2026 — Scientific Symposium at Palazzo del Bo
On 18 June 2026, PersoNa held its first Scientific Symposium at the Archivio Antico, Palazzo del Bo, University of Padova. An international panel examined four concrete climate litigation cases: the Giudizio Universale case, strategies before European courts (ECCHR), the Mecheros case in the Amazon, and the KlimaSeniorinnen precedent. Keynote was delivered by Loes Van Dijk, Climate Court Founder.
Publications and Open Calls
Call for Contributions — Edited Volume: PersoNa is developing an edited volume on personal narratives in climate litigation. Submissions of abstracts are welcome from researchers working at the intersection of law, climate science, and narrative studies. Download the Call for Contributions
Team