Feature story - 5 October, 2009
700 volunteers posed nude in a French vineyard to send a message about climate change. This human art installation in the South of Burgundy was created by artist Spencer Tunick - to warn about the dangers of global warming.
Naked message: global warming could mean an end to the days of wine... and rosés.
(Parental warning: the story below contains nudity)
Here's an open letter to world leaders with a naked truth about climate change: their efforts so far have barely made a difference.
Dear Obama, Merkel, Jintao, Lula, Sarkozy, Zapatero, Tusk etc.
As you willhave no doubt witnessed this year - tens of thousands of people are willing togo to some extraordinary lengths for climate action.
Many are even willing to taketheir clothes off! 700 people havestripped naked in a vineyard to warn the world of the effects climatechange will have on French wine. And a while ago, hundreds of otherswere prepared to pose nude on a glacier in Switzerland.
Around the world, people have made time to march, dance, create artwork, chainthemselves overnight to coal installations in Svalbard, lock on toequipment in Canada's tar sands, get arrested for suspending a messageto the G20 from a bridge in Pittsburgh, spend four months at sea awayfrom their families to show again that the Arctic is melting, document glacial melt at the top of the Himalayas and carved a hundred icestatues in Beijing to show the threat to Asia's water supply.
Given the lengths to which we're all willing to go to call for action on this issue, do you think you could make some time in your busy calendar this December to show up in Copenhagen? To date, only Gordon Brown (UK), Donald Tusk (Poland) and Jan Peter Balkenende (the Netherlands) have said they will attend.
We're not asking you to take your clothes off in Copenhagen - but we do expect you to be there - to sign a fair, ambitious and binding deal to save the future of our planet. A half-decent climate treaty simply wont do.
Thank you,
Greenpeace