Chinese climate campaigners are hoping that bare flesh and underwear can succeed where apocalyptic warnings and international pressure have failed: to promote a low-carbon lifestyle in the nation with the world's biggest greenhouse emissions.
A group of environmental exhibitionists – none of whom had ever met before – stripped down to their pants and boxers inside a Guangdong subway carriage yesterday to promote awareness about sustainable consumption.
To the astonishment and amusement of watching commuters, the 20 or so men and women then sat down in their seats and continued their journeys for 40 minutes, reading newspapers and listening to music in the semi-nude.
The bare-legged subway ride was coordinated on the internet and inspired by similar actions in the UK and the US, organised by the Improv Everywhere group. Though small in scale, it is unusual in China, where climate-related campaigns are rare and the police often take a dim view of unapproved public displays of flesh or political activity.
Organisers, who posted an online appeal for participants on local bulletin boards last week, said the action was intended simply as "a bit of fun", but they were prepared to be taken away by the police.
The event, however, attracted far more attention from the media than the security bureau. The TVS1 channel filmed the participants taking off their trousers and skirts. Some, either shy or uneasy about possible repercussions wore sunglasses. Others bore hand-written slogans, "Save the Earth", "So hot" and "Low-carbon life – free and easy" either scrawled on paper or their thighs.
"Of course I feel a little bit shy, after all we are Chinese. But I think it is OK to promote environmental protection in this way," a female participant told reporters.
The organiser, Liang Shuxin – an online sales manager – said the action was deliberately provocative. "In a shocking way, we achieved our goal," he told the Guardian. "There has been a lot of debate and some people have criticised me. But this was an avant garde way to draw attention to a low-carbon lifestyle."
Environmental awareness has come late to China, but it is growing fast. Factory pollution, waste incinerators and dam relocations result in thousands of protests each year. In civil society, green NGOs have increased in number and influence.
Given the dire state of the air and water, climate change has been a more distant concern until recently. But melting glaciers and worsening droughts and floods have brought home the risks of inaction. The central government has issued its first white paper on climate change and international bodies, including the UK government, the Worldwide Fund for Nature and Greenpeace, have mounted climate campaigns in China.
But such efforts are in their infancy and the impact has to be spread over a vastly divided nation. While the average carbon footprint of people in China is half that of people in the UK, the levels in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing are higher than Britain, France and Germany. And with China's economy still surging forward at the rate of more than 8% per year, the country's emissions will double again in the next 15 years.
Liang said he was trying to set an example by using the subway more and wearing – at least for the duration of the campaign – one less item of clothing, equal, he estimated, to 7kg of CO2 for its manufacture.
"Our government has been trying to promote a low-carbon economy, but bureaucratic action is not enough; every citizen needs to get involved."
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