Alberto Barrio Fernandez

Alberto Barrio Fernandez serves as Assistant Professor at the Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance (CLIMA) within the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen, where he investigates the legal dimensions of climate-social system integration. His research bridges platform work regulation, social security frameworks, and climate transition governance, with emphasis on EU-level policy innovation and welfare state adaptation.

His academic foundation includes a PhD in European Social Security Law from Tilburg University (2021), an LL.M. in European Social Security (cum laude) from KU Leuven (2016), a European Master in Human Rights and Democratisation (2014), and dual undergraduate degrees in Law and Political Science from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2013).

Barrio Fernandez's scholarship critically examines how digital platform work disrupts traditional social protection systems while exploring legal mechanisms to integrate climate action with social justice. His work identifies regulatory gaps in platform worker coverage, analyzes the EU Platform Work Directive's social security implications, and develops frameworks for climate-responsive welfare systems. He advocates for institutional redesign that links decarbonization pathways with social contract renewal.

His publication trajectory reveals a strategic pivot toward climate-social integration, evolving from platform work security analysis (2022-2023) to explicit climate transition frameworks (2024-2025). Key thematic clusters include social protection modernization for green transitions, platform work regulation within climate policies, and EU institutional responses to ecological-social interdependencies.

Current research activities center on the EXPRESS2 project at CLIMA, where he investigates climate-induced social contract transformations, alongside ongoing analysis of the WorkWel project's findings regarding digital labor's impact on welfare systems. His recent speaking engagements address climate stressors on social contracts, just transition policy integration, and decarbonization's implications for social protection architecture.