Lagarde Leverages Virus to Press for Greener Monetary Policy
The pandemic recession is leading Europe’s central bankers to join the fight against climate change—unlike their counterparts at the Federal Reserve.
Illustration: Klaus Kremmerz for Bloomberg Businessweek
The pandemic could easily have derailed Christine Lagarde’s plan to enlist the European Central Bank in the fight against climate change. Only she won’t let it. “It’s a topic that I am very keen about, which I believe has a systemic dimension,” she told journalists after the ECB’s latest monetary policy meeting on Sept. 10.
Lagarde made battling global warming a defining feature of her eight-years as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warning that humanity would be “roasted, toasted, fried and grilled” if it failed to act.