International Leadership
Leadership for a green cruising model
“Ecoship offers a vision for a climate-friendly future and can lead the way towards a green cruising model that can also impact the wider shipping industry. The industry must adapt to the planet’s needs.”
Yoshioka Tatsuya, Founder and Director, Peace Boat
Ecoship combines its form and its activities to have not only the best environmental and financial impact, but also to make a positive human and social impact on its participants, local communities in ports of call; the global population and the cruise industry in Asia. As the cruise industry continues to grow in popularity and as the new markets in East Asia expand, Ecoship signals a model of green cruising that will contribute to preserving the natural environment that is a pre-requisite for the long-term feasibility of the cruise business.
Cruising is the most publicly visible interaction between modern shipping and the public and thus has the greatest potential to raise awareness and effect change across the shipping industry as a whole. The global shipping industry is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and while the cruise industry represents only a tiny fraction of world shipping, it must contribute to
the agenda of solutions.
“…a pathbreaking attempt in sustainability in the shipping industry…”
Professor Tomas Kåberger, former Director of National Swedish
Energy Agency
“We are delighted to see wind propulsion being used on this innovative cruise ship design. Ecoship will be a front runner in the design of lower impact cruise vessels…”
Gavin Allwright, Secretary of the International Windship Association (IWSA)
International Networks
Peace Boat is a member of the following international networks:
– Friends of the Earth International (Affiliate Member)
– International Peace Bureau
– Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (Northeast Asia Secretariat)
– World Social Forum
– Peace Now Korea Japan (Founding Member)
– Non-Violent Peace Force
– World Peace Now
– International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
– Abolition 2000
– Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines
Campaigns and Advocacy
Peace Boat also engages with international civil society by leading or participating in numerous international campaigns and advocacy efforts to help build a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding – Peace Boat regularly visits past or present conflict areas such as former Yugoslavia, Eritrea, Colombia, Timor Leste and places in Asia which suffered Japanese aggression during World War II. Understanding the causes of these conflicts can lend some insight to how they might be/have been solved and how their recurrence might be prevented.
Disarmament and Nuclear Abolition – Peace Boat advocates for a decrease in global military expenditure and the reallocation of funds to eradicate poverty and invest in sustainable development and human security.
Humanitarian Support and Disaster Relief – Peace Boat helps to prepare and strengthen civil response in times of disaster and fortify national and global disaster relief networks and capacity in of all phases of the disaster cycle; disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
Peace and Human Rights – Peace Boat combines grassroots mobilisation with high-level advocacy and international networking to promote peace, non-violence and the respect of human rights in cooperation with a network of NGOs and governments committed to similar causes.
Sustainability – Uneven wealth distribution lies at the heart of many social problems and economic turmoil. Environmental degradation is often the unintended outcome of our search for greater wealth. Peace Boat organises numerous activities to equip participants with greater awareness of the impact of globalisation and with tools for sustainable living.
A network of International thought-leaders and volunteers
Over the past 40 years, Peace Boat has built an extensive network which includes renown academics, thinkers, activists, scientists, public figures, political leaders and Nobel Peace Laureates.
Peace Boat also utilizes its global voyages to promote volunteerism. Each voyage, Peace Boat recruits between 8 to 12 professional language teachers to support its language programmes onboard, depending on student enrolment numbers. The language teaching positions are done on a volunteer basis, but the participation fee for the voyage is fully covered by Peace Boat. On this same model, Peace Boat recruits and trains volunteer translators and interpreters. Being at the front line of all the programmes, both onboard and in land, they are instrumental in allowing communication and exchange.
Many other volunteer opportunities are available to Peace Boat participants during the voyage. Many aspects of the onboard education system is run by participants themselves on a volunteer basis. Moreover Peace Boat has developed volunteer system through which future participants on Peace Boat voyages can volunteer in advocacy projects and administration in one of the Peace Boat Centers in Japan with each volunteer hour accounting for a discount in the price of the participation fee. During each voyage about 30% of our participants pay entirely or partially their participation fee.