Attributional and consequential methods are both necessary for managing responsibility: Reply to Weidema et al. (2019)

This letter is intended to advance an ongoing debate within the Journal of Cleaner Production on the appropriate use, and necessity, of two fundamentally different types of accounting method for managing social/environmental responsibility, namely, attributional and consequential methods. This letter provides a critique of the arguments in Weidema et al. (2019), and analyses the presuppositions underpinning Weidema et al.’s position that only consequential methods are necessary for managing responsibility. By recognising that managing responsibility involves practices such as establishing an initial scope of responsibility and target-setting, in addition to decision-making, it becomes apparent that both attributional and consequential methods are needed.