ABSTRACT
The Water Justice Framework discussed in this chapter has been developed by the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN), a policy initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC). WCC works in partnership with Roman Catholic Church on many issues as well as with the World Evangelical Alliance and other ecumenical and interfaith organizations. WCC member churches work in a variety of ways at all levels, from providing poor communities with financial and technical assistance for clean water and sanitation, to engaging in advocacy at international, national and local levels for just and sustainable water resources policies. The Water Justice Framework successfully identified common ethical principles despite conflicting theologies, differing senses of what constitutes legitimate religious authority, and disparate approaches to interpreting biblical texts. It rejects the neoclassical economic paradigm as basis for human decision-making about water resources. The Framework recognizes that ethical precepts drawn from two core biblical values must be given primary importance in deciding water issues.
