On the heels of the COP27 in November 2022, the UN reached a breakthrough agreement to create a “loss and damage” fund that will help minimize the adverse impacts of climate change on vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. While there’s still a lot of work to be done to achieve climate justice, the fund is an important step towards that.

As a foundation that’s focused on human rights, we were encouraged to see this progress. “Climate justice is the intersection of climate action, human rights, and social equality—all important issue areas to the Dropbox Foundation,” said Tina Lee, Director of Social Impact at Dropbox.

This year, we also wanted to focus more on supporting climate-based nonprofits, so the Foundation is pleased to announce our newest partnership with Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) based in Australia. EDO’s mission is to push bold and ground-breaking environmental cases that advocate for better laws in pursuit of their vision of a world where nature thrives.

“EDO was a perfect fit not only because we have a large employee base in Australia, EDO’s approach in upholding environmental laws truly reflects the Foundation’s mission to promote human rights,” said Bart Volkmer, Dropbox Foundation President and Dropbox Chief Legal Officer.

EDO was formed in 1985 in response to the needs of local community groups opposing developments that threatened nature and communities. A national merger in 2019 made EDO the largest environmental law center in the region. Now with an agile and innovative team of public-interest lawyers, EDO runs ground-breaking cases that increase the legal and financial risks for those considering investing in environmentally harmful developments.

“We believe a better future is possible using the law as a catalyst for urgent action and to assert people’s human right to a healthy environment and safe climate. As the impacts of climate change on our planet and communities increase, we have much work ahead of us. Support from the Dropbox Foundation will help us meet these challenges in the courts, where science and evidence can bring about lasting systemic change,” said David Morris, CEO of EDO.

We’re very excited to be partnering with our second climate justice nonprofit as we continue to deepen our commitment to Dropbox’s sustainability goals. We hope to make a greater impact through learning from EDO how we can all be better environmental stewards.