Christine Lagarde is pushing for climate change to be part of a strategic review of the European Central Bank’s purpose, spearheading a global drive to make the environment an essential part of monetary policymaking.

The plan underlines Ms Lagarde’s declared goal as president to make climate change a “mission-critical” priority for the central bank. It comes as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, whose team on Wednesday was officially endorsed by the European Parliament, is about to unveil her first landmark climate policy package.

The agenda of the ECB’s review has yet to be finalised but two people involved in the discussions said the environment was likely to feature in the first such comprehensive review for the institution since 2003.