Accounting for the Commons in France
* Report: WHICH ACCOUNTING FOR THE COMMONS? SUMMARY OF THE WORK OF THE COMMONS AND ACCOUNTING GROUP 2018 - 2025. By Daniel Le Guillou et al. Coop des Communs, March 2026.
URL = https://nextcloud.coopdescommuns.org/index.php/s/XgssJY9q9J8ZmYw?dir=/&editing=false&openfile=true
Description
Nicole Alix et al. :
From the Introduction:
"Since its creation in 2016, La Coop des Communs has had as its raison d'être to enable the emergence and strengthening of initiatives that fall within the dynamic of the commons, notably by drawing on the long and complex experience of the social and solidarity economy (SSE), with the aim of fostering the sustainability of a model of social, economic and cultural organisation that is an alternative to the dominant model based solely on the criterion of profit.
To address the social and environmental challenges facing human and non-human communities, La Coop des Communs' ambition is to increase the transformative power of the commons by strengthening people's capacity to consult and organise collectively in order to invent fair and sustainable solutions under democratic control.
This is achieved by maintaining a community of people working across silos, through projects involving practitioners and researchers, and by facilitating working groups that discuss, develop and experiment on their respective themes¹.
One of these groups, the Commons and Accounting Group (GCC) , was established in 2018 by digital cooperative platforms claiming affiliation with the commons and SSE organisations which, in accordance with the law of 31 July 2014, are dedicated to actions contributing to territorial cohesion, energy transition, popular education and cultural promotion, with concern for vulnerable populations and territorial solidarity.
In the interim report published in 2020, the GCC members:
"agree on the necessity of fundamentally transforming our societal model and putting an end to the devastating effects of capitalism(s) on nature and humanity, by requiring organisations to be respectful of their environment, their workers and their users, and not merely of the private interests of a dominant class. This implies rethinking business models and the governance of these organisations"²,
defined a work programme organised around three axes: raising awareness of the need to change the accounting model, experimenting with socio-environmental accounting, and consolidating the lessons learned from these various actions.
This document presents an assessment of this work based on concrete cases of organisations that identify with the commons approach and by referring to publications by members of La Coop des Communs.
After recalling the fundamental principles of the commons, the first chapter traces the journey of several GCC member organisations in implementing this approach and analyses the inadequacy of accounting standards for the specificities of SSE and commons organisations. The second chapter presents the various GCC actions around the C.A.R.E. accounting model and the initial results of its operational implementation in four organisations. Beyond the strictly accounting framework, these experiments provide insights into what the operational implementation of C.A.R.E. produces within organisations and raise reflections on the levers for continuing the 'Accounting Revolution'⁴, particularly within the commons universe; this will be the subject of the third chapter, which concludes with questions, thus opening the way for further work."
French-language original
- Rapport: QUELLE COMPTABILITÉ POUR LES COMMUNS ? SYNTHÈSE DES TRAVAUX DU GROUPE COMMUNS ET COMPTABILITÉ
2018 - 2025. Par Daniel Le Guillou et al. Coop des Communs, mars 2026.
URL = https://nextcloud.coopdescommuns.org/index.php/s/XgssJY9q9J8ZmYw?dir=/&editing=false&openfile=true
"INTRODUCTION:
Depuis sa création en 2016, La Coop des Communs a pour raison d’être de permettre l’émergence et le renforcement des initiatives qui relèvent de la dynamique des communs, notamment en s’appuyant sur la longue et complexe expérience de l’économie sociale et solidaire (ESS), dans le but de favoriser la pérennisation d'un modèle d’organisation sociale, économique et culturelle alternatif au modèle dominant fondé sur le seul critère du profit.
Pour répondre aux enjeux sociaux et environnementaux auxquels font face les communautés humaines et non humaines, l'ambition de La Coop des Communs est d'accroître le pouvoir transformateur des communs en renforçant la capacité des personnes à se concerter et à s'organiser collectivement pour inventer des solutions justes et durables, sous contrôle démocratique.
Ceci se fait par l’entretien d’une communauté de personnes décloisonnée, par des projets associant praticiens et chercheurs et par l'animation de groupes de travail qui discutent, élaborent et expérimentent sur leurs thématiques respectives.
L'un de ces groupes, Communs et comptabilité (GCC), a été constitué en 2018 par des plateformes coopératives numériques se revendiquant des communs et des organisations de l'ESS qui, conformément à la loi du 31 juillet 2014, se consacrent à des actions contribuant à la cohésion territoriale, à la transitionénergétique, à l’éducation populaire et la promotion culturelle, avec le souci des publics vulnérables et des solidarités territoriales.
Dans le cadre du rapport d'étape, publié en 2020, les membres du GCC :
-
« s’accordent sur la nécessité de transformer notre modèle de société en profondeur et de faire cesser les
effets dévastateurs du/des capitalisme(s) sur la nature et l’humain, en contraignant les organisations à être respectueuses de leur environnement, de leurs travailleurs et de leurs usagers, et non pas des seuls intérêts privés d’une couche dominante. Cela implique de repenser les modèles d’affaires et la gouvernance de ces organisations »,
- ont défini un programme de travail organisé autour de trois axes : la sensibilisation à la nécessité de changer de modèle comptable, l'expérimentation d'une comptabilité socio-environnementale, la capitalisation des enseignements de ces différentes actions.
Le présent document établit le bilan de ces travaux à partir de cas concrets d'organisations se reconnaissant dans l'approche par les communs et en se référant aux publications de membres de La Coop des Communs.
Après avoir rappelé les principes fondamentaux des communs, le premier chapitre retrace le cheminement de plusieurs organisations membres du GCC dans la mise en œuvre de cette approche et l'analyse de l'inadaptation des normes comptables aux spécificités des organisations de l'ESS et des communs. Le deuxième chapitre présente les différentes actions du GCC autour du modèle comptable C.A.R.E.3 et les premiers résultats de sa mise en œuvre opérationnelle dans quatre organisations. Au-delà du cadre comptable stricto sensu, ces expérimentations apportent des enseignements sur ce que produit la mise en œuvre opérationnelle de C.A.R.E. au sein des organisations et suscitent des réflexions sur les leviers permettant de poursuivre la « Révolution comptable », notamment dans l'univers des communs, ce sera l'objet du troisième chapitre qui se termine par des interrogations, ouvrant ainsi la voie à d'autres travaux."
(https://nextcloud.coopdescommuns.org/index.php/s/XgssJY9q9J8ZmYw?dir=/&editing=false&openfile=true)
Excerpts
Review of Socio-Ecological Accounting Systems
A reprocessed summary of [1]:
For the strongest ecological approaches, see CARE and LIFTS → "redefine accounting around ecological limits
CARE (Comprehensive Accounting in Respect of Ecology)
https://www.cerces.org/projet-modele-care
developed by the Cercle des Comptables Environnementaux et Sociaux (CERCES), is one of the most radical attempts to redesign accounting around ecological principles. Instead of treating environmental damage as an externality, CARE considers natural and social capitals (soil, ecosystems, labor conditions, human well-being, etc.) as forms of capital that must be maintained over time. Degradation generates a form of socio-ecological debt requiring restoration expenditures. Its specificity is that it seeks not merely to supplement accounting, but to replace conventional accounting logic with preservation obligations.
Comptabilité Universelle (Universal Accounting)
https://www.cabinetdesaintfront.fr/comptabilite-universelle/
Universal Accounting seeks to integrate social and environmental impacts into a common monetary framework. Rather than redesigning accounting itself, it attempts to monetize externalities so that ecological and social effects can enter managerial decision-making and investment calculations. Its specificity is its pragmatic use of money as a universal language for comparing heterogeneous impacts.
Déclaration de Performance Extra-Financière (DPEF)
https://www.economie.gouv.fr/entreprises/declaration-performance-extra-financiere-dpef
DPEF is a French regulatory framework requiring companies to disclose environmental, social, and governance information alongside financial reporting. It does not create a new accounting system but establishes standardized transparency requirements. Its specificity lies in legal disclosure and accountability rather than in redefining value or capital.
Environmental Profit and Loss
https://www.kering.com/en/sustainability/measuring-our-impact/ep-l/
Environmental Profit and Loss, developed by Kering, assigns monetary values to environmental impacts throughout a company's value chain, including emissions, water use, land use, and pollution. It creates an environmental shadow balance sheet alongside traditional financial accounts. Its specificity is the translation of environmental impacts into a language already familiar to firms and investors.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
https://www.globalreporting.org/
The Global Reporting Initiative is one of the most widely adopted sustainability reporting frameworks in the world. It standardizes the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance information to allow comparison across organizations and sectors. Its specificity lies in creating a common reporting language rather than altering accounting principles.
Integrated Reporting (IR)
https://www.integratedreporting.org/
Integrated Reporting seeks to connect financial and non-financial dimensions by organizing organizational activity around multiple forms of capital: financial, manufactured, social, human, intellectual, and natural capital. Its specificity is showing how these different capitals interact to produce long-term value creation.
Impact Weighted Accounts (IWA)
https://www.hbs.edu/impact-weighted-accounts/
Developed at Harvard Business School, Impact Weighted Accounts attempt to convert social and environmental impacts into quantified monetary measures and integrate them directly into financial statements. Its specificity is the effort to create revised profit-and-loss statements that reflect real societal and ecological effects rather than only market transactions.
LIFTS (Limits and Foundations Towards Sustainability) Accounting Model
LIFTS starts from ecological limits and social foundations rather than market valuation. It asks whether economic activity remains within scientifically defined planetary boundaries and social thresholds. Its specificity is that sustainability is defined not as incremental reduction of damage but as remaining within viable ecological conditions.
Social Return on Investment (SROI)
https://socialvalueint.org/guide-to-sroi/
Social Return on Investment estimates the social value generated by a project relative to resources invested, often expressed as a ratio such as "€1 invested generates €4 of social value." Its specificity is making social outcomes visible in investment language, allowing social impact to be compared with economic inputs.
Thésaurus Triple Empreinte (Triple Footprint Thesaurus)
https://goodwill-management.com/
The Triple Footprint approach developed by Goodwill Management evaluates organizations through three interconnected dimensions: economic, social, and environmental impacts. Its specificity is less a new accounting model than a structured vocabulary and framework that helps organizations map and communicate multidimensional performance.