Three complementary accounting methods to put ecological issues at the heart of public affairs[Trois méthodes comptables pour mettre les problèmes écologiques au coeur de la chose publique]

This paper highlights the relevance and importance of developing new ecological accounting frameworks that can contribute to the multiple efforts to transform our economy into a system that effectively maintains and restores the biosphere. Three methods of ecological accounting are presented, respectively at the national level (unpaid ecological costs), at the level of organisations (the CARE model), and at the level of collective ecosystem governance (ecosystem-centred management accounting). We show how these methods share a common theoretical basis in that they are all three anchored in "strong sustainability" and favour approaches based on the costs of preserving/restoring ecosystems. We conclude by insisting on the complementarity of these approaches and the necessity to move forward on the articulation projects already undertaken within the framework of the work of the Ecological Accounting Chair.