A group of Brown students attending the U.N. climate change negotiations in Peru as part of an environmental studies course accepted the “Green University of 2014 award on behalf of Brown.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown was named “Green University of 2014” at Responding to Climate Change’s annual Climate Change Awards. The University was recognized for the work of both its Climate Development Lab and the Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014, a climate change bill that was drafted by J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environmental studies and sociology, working with 15 Brown students and a group of consultants. The bill was signed into law this summer.

The law’s main goals are to reduce the state’s carbon emissions and to adapt to the consequences of climate change by creating the EC4 — the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Committee.

The awards were presented last week at the U.N. climate change negotiations in Peru. Several Brown students were attending the talks as part of a class taught by Roberts and accepted the award alongside Guy Edwards, visiting research fellow in environmental studies.

Funding for the students' trip to Peru was provided by the Office of Global Engagement’s Global Experiential Learning and Teaching Program.

“We are confident that this experience was transformative and that it will encourage our students to remain committed to global environmental issues and policies,” said Sonia Feigenbaum, associate provost for global engagement.