It was billed as a nudie parade. But despite the bright Saturday sunshine, climate change activists were reluctant to go all the way.

After a week of protests that blocked Melbourne's peak-hour traffic and infuriated commuters, it was a more relaxed group of Extinction Rebellion protesters who gathered at Carlton Gardens on Saturday.

Spring rebellion: Activists stripped to their underwear and marched through the city on Saturday. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Applying paint and sunscreen as they stripped to their undies – but no further – the activists then chanted and waved flags as they marched along city streets, down Bourke Street Mall and through city arcades.

Slogans painted on bare chests and breasts included "compost the rich", "emergency: act now" and "we are overexposed".