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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.

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Illustration: Klaus Kremmerz for Bloomberg Businessweek

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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.