ABSTRACT
Water ethics is an application-oriented ethics addressing water as a field of action that is increasingly regarded as problematic. Water ethics deals with human water practices. It reviews the normative and evaluative presuppositions and implications of these practices and aims to argue for justified, ethically reflected practices. As such, water ethics is both critical and constructive: It critically reflects existing water concepts and policies and argues for a different and more just water practice in contexts in which present practices have become questioned. This chapter introduces Postel's call for a new water ethic. It discusses water ethics as an application-oriented ethics and asks what this means for the water ethic suggested by Postel. The chapter suggests how the Charter might benefit from an exchange with academic water ethics. It concludes with the reasons why water ethical discourse is seen as emergent.
