The absence of a community from the governance, payments or eligibility rules of a finance facility that pays for outcomes on its land or in its catchment.
Extended definition
The wiki gives the term a narrower meaning than the standard “financial exclusion,” which refers to people’s lack of access to accounts, credit and insurance. Finance exclusion here concerns a particular facility, such as a water fund, a performance-based bond or a payment for ecosystem services program, and the people whose land or catchment produces the outcome it pays for. A community is excluded when it holds no seat where the facility’s rules are set, cannot meet its eligibility rules, or receives none of its payments.
The mechanisms documented on Exclusion from Water Finance include eligibility tied to registered title, payment only for chosen sub-catchments, metrics suited to large or state holdings, boards with no seat for rural land stewards, and bidding or verification costs small holders cannot meet. Whether finance exclusion amounts to conservation violence is Michael Haupt’s working hypothesis, and the term itself makes no claim about harm.
Contrast with adjacent terms
- Financial exclusion. The standard term: lack of access to financial services. Finance exclusion concerns a community’s place in a specific facility.
- Adverse inclusion. Taking part on harmful terms. A community can be excluded from a facility’s governance and adversely included in its labor at the same time.
- Green grabbing. Appropriation for environmental ends. Finance exclusion can occur with no change in who holds the land.
Related terms
- Adverse Inclusion
- Conservation Violence
- Structural Violence
- Green Grabbing
- Payment for ecosystem services (PES)
- Performance-Based Bond
- Exclusion from Water Finance
Sources
- Bremer, L.L. et al. (2016). One size does not fit all
- Samii, C. et al. (2014). Effects of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) on Deforestation and Poverty
Provenance
Created 25 October 2026 from the evidence brief behind Exclusion from Water Finance. The term and its definition are Michael Haupt’s, proposed in the hand-back of that research run; the contrast with the standard term “financial exclusion” is drawn from general usage.