ECB sparks staff revolt over ‘disrespectful’ approach to climate change

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

European Central Bank staff are in revolt over the board’s approach to climate change after an executive said new recruits had to be “reprogrammed” to ensure they support its green policies.

The ECB’s staff committee has called for president Christine Lagarde and her top team to rethink their management style in a letter, seen by the Financial Times, which complains about the “disrespectful” comments made by an executive board member at a meeting last month. 

The move highlights rising dissent among ECB staff against their bosses, who have made tackling the risks of climate change a priority for the central bank.

Frank Elderson, who joined the ECB in late 2020, told the internal meeting: “Why would we want to hire people whom we have to reprogramme because they came from the best universities but they still don’t know how to spell the word ‘climate’.”

The staff representatives said “many colleagues were shocked by the choice of words and the viewpoints of Mr Elderson” and that the idea of “reprogramming” people was “in direct contradiction to the democratic values the ECB and EU stand for”.

“We would encourage the executive board to reflect on their leadership style and to acknowledge that people in democratic societies shall not be ‘reprogrammed’ but convinced by reasoning and facts and leading by example,” said the letter, which was shared with ECB staff on Monday.

The ECB, which is set to keep its key eurozone interest rate unchanged at its meeting on Thursday, said Elderson was “a staunch supporter” of all forms of diversity.

“His message that climate science should be considered in the ECB’s work directly reflects the bank’s strategy,” it said, adding that his colleagues on the executive board shared his views “that all factors affecting the ECB’s mandated tasks should be properly…