World Bank President Ajay Banga said Tuesday that he is working to reform "dysfunctionality" in the boardroom of the development lender, and pledged to refocus its mission to better address the challenges posed by climate change.

The former Mastercard chief executive told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the bank should alter its current twin mandate of poverty alleviation and boosting shared prosperity to include climate change.

"I think the twin goals have to change to being elimination of poverty, but on a livable planet, because of the intertwined nature of our crises," he said.

He added that he was working to redefine the World Bank's business around what he called five key knowledge "verticals": people, prosperity, planet, infrastructure, and digital.

Fixing the plumbing

Banga, an Indian-born naturalized US citizen, was nominated to lead the World Bank earlier this year by President Joe Biden and began his new role in June.

The bank has historically been led by an American, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been run by a European — a controversial arrangement that has existed since the two institutions were founded in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Banga has already made a number of changes to the bank's management since taking over, setting up a new 15-person private sector advisory board, and pledging deeper cooperation with regional development banks to tackle shared challenges.

On Tuesday, Banga vowed to "fix the plumbing" at the bank, which he said suffered from "dysfunctionality" in the boardroom.

The World Bank's board is made up of 25 executive directors appointed by its 189 member countries, who must balance the interests of the development lender with those of the states they represent.

"I want people to say when I'm gone that I left the bank working much better than when I got it, because then my successor will not have to deal with what I'm dealing with," he said.