LIU Nengye
Full-time Faculty
Associate Professor of Law; Director, Doctor of Law and Commercial Governance (DLCG) Programme; Urban Fellow (Urban Governance)
Yong Pung How School of Law
YPHSL
- Doctor of Law, Ghent University, Belgium, 2012
- LLM, Wuhan University, China, 2007
- LLB, Wuhan University, China, 2004
Academic Positions Held
Current Appointment:
- Associate Professor of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2022-Present
- Director, Doctor of Law and Commercial Governance (DLCG) Programme, Jan 2025-Present
- Urban Fellow, SMU Urban Institute, 2025-Present
Past Appointments:
- Associate Professor & Director, Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2020 - 2022
- Senior Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, Australia, 2017 - 2020
- Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of New England, Armidale, Australia, 2015 - 2016
Other Positions
- Founding Director, CCLA Singapore Sustainable Futures Initiative, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law, 2025 - present
- Co-Chair, Law of the Sea Interest Group, American Society of International Law, 2025 - present
- Founding Chair of Steering Committee, Asia Pacific Research Alliance on Law and Sustainability, 2024 – present
- Member, International Law Association Committee Urbanisation and International Law – Potentials and Pitfalls, 2024 – present
- Member of Editorial Board, Polar Record (Cambridge University Press, IF=0.8), 2023 - present
- Member of Editorial Board, Marine Policy (Elsevier, IF=4.315), 2021- present
- Member of Editorial Board, Ocean Development and International Law (Taylor & Francis, IF=1.2), 2021 - present
- Co-Chair, International Environmental Law Interest Group, American Society of International Law, 2021 - 2024
- Member of Governing Board, IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, 2021 - 2024
- Marie Curie Research Fellow, Dundee Law School, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, 2013 - 2015
- “Future Ocean” Postdoctoral Fellow, Walther-Schücking-Institute for International Law, University of Kiel, Germany, 2012 – 2013
Course Taught in SMU
- Introduction to Sustainability Law
- Ethics and Social Responsibility
- Sustainable Ocean Law and Governance
Research Areas / Areas of Specialisation
- Ocean Law and Policy
- International Environmental Law
- Chinese Environmental Law
- International Polar Law
Selected Publications
- Google Scholar author page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sm1425MAAAAJ&hl=en
- Scopus author page: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55075616100
- Shirley V. Scott & Nengye Liu, The Prospects for the High Seas Treaty Decisively Reducing the Negative Biodiversity Impacts of Distant Water Fishing Operations, International and Comparative Law Quarterly (2025) 74 (S1), 255-266
- Nengye Liu & Shirley V. Scott, China in the UNCLOS and BBNJ Negotiations, Yesterday once more? Leiden Journal of International Law (2025) 38 (2), 168-187
- Nengye Liu, Shirley V. Scott (eds), The Law of the Sea and the Planetary Crisis (Routledge, 2025, London)
- Nengye Liu, Cassandra Brooks, Tianbao Qin (eds), Governing Marine Living Resources in the Polar Regions (Edward Elgar, 2019, Cheltenham)
- Nengye Liu, Elizabeth Kirk, Tore Henriksen (eds), The European Union and the Arctic (Brill Nijhoff, 2017, Leiden/Boston)
- Nengye Liu, Establishing Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean, Lessons for the BBNJ Agreement, Marine Policy (2024) 165, 106216
- Nengye Liu, Jan Jakub Solski, “The Polar Silk Road and the Future Governance of Northern Sea Route”, Leiden Journal of International Law (2022) 35 (4) 853-866
- Nengye Liu, Alexander Proelss and Valentin Schatz, “Regulating Exceptions for Research and Exploratory Fishing in Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas: A Comparative Analysis on Balancing Conservation and Commercial Use”, Ocean Development and International Law (2022) 53 (1) 60-83
- Nengye Liu, “China and One Hundred Years of the Svalbard Treaty, Past, Present and Future”, Marine Policy (2021) 124, 104354
- Nengye Liu, “The Rise of China and Conservation of Marine Living Resources in the Polar Regions”, Marine Policy (2020) 121, 104181
- Nengye Liu, “The Rise of China and the Antarctic Treaty System?”, Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs (2019) 11 (2) 120-131
- Nengye Liu, “The European Union and the Establishment of Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica”, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (2018) 18 (6) 861-874
- Nengye Liu, Cassandra Brooks, “China’s Changing Position towards Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean: Implications for Future Antarctic Governance”, Marine Policy (2018) 94 189-195
- Nengye Liu, “Will China Build a Green Belt and Road in the Arctic?” Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law (2018) 27 (1) 55-62
Research Areas and Areas of Expertise
Strategic Priorities
HighlightsAssociate Professor LIU Nengye is a globally recognized scholar in the law of the sea and international environmental law, specializing in polar regions, marine governance, and sustainability, with extensive leadership, editorial, and outreach roles across academia, policy, and media.
Bridges academic research, policy, and public engagement in marine and environmental law; drives interdisciplinary and international collaboration for sustainable ocean governance; recognized for leadership in polar law, editorial stewardship, and shaping global discourse on marine sustainability; combines comparative legal analysis with practical policy impact; regularly consulted by governments, international organizations, and media.
Focused research areas include Governance of marine living resources in polar regions; legal frameworks for marine biodiversity and sustainability; international environmental law and planetary crisis; high seas treaty negotiations; marine protected areas; geopolitics and law of the sea; China's role in polar and marine governance; transitions to sustainable ocean regimes.
Bridges academic research, policy, and public engagement in marine and environmental law; drives interdisciplinary and international collaboration for sustainable ocean governance; recognized for leadership in polar law, editorial stewardship, and shaping global discourse on marine sustainability; combines comparative legal analysis with practical policy impact; regularly consulted by governments, international organizations, and media.
Focused research areas include Governance of marine living resources in polar regions; legal frameworks for marine biodiversity and sustainability; international environmental law and planetary crisis; high seas treaty negotiations; marine protected areas; geopolitics and law of the sea; China's role in polar and marine governance; transitions to sustainable ocean regimes.
Areas of Expertise
Law of the seainternational environmental lawpolar law and governancemarine biodiversity and conservationvessel-source pollutioninternational legal frameworks for marine protectiongeopolitics of polar regionscomparative law (EUChinaAsia-Pacific)sustainability transitionsurbanisation and international law.
Past Awarded Grant
- 2026, Primary Chief Investigator, Project title: 'Korea and the Antarctic Treaty System in a Changing World Order', Korea Foundation (with Hyoung Chul SHIN & Cassandra Brooks)
- 2025 - 2026, Chief Investigator, Project title: 'Canada-Asia Arctic Dialogue: Security and Sustainability in a Changing World', Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (with Suzanne Lalonde)
- 2021 - 2024, Primary Chief Investigator, Project title: 'The Rise of China and the Future of High Seas Governance', Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (with Shirley Scott, success rate: 22.2%)
- 2022 - 2023, Primary Chief Investigator, Project title: 'Australia-China Joint Workshop on Biodiversity Law and Governance: Towards a World Living in Harmony with Nature by 2050', National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (with Michelle Lim, Shawkat Alam and Paul Govind)
- 2019 - 2023, Chief Investigator, Project title: 'Geopolitical Change and the Antarctic Treaty System', Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (with Marcus Haward (lead), Jeffery McGee, Timothy Stephens, Shirley Scott and Anthony Press) (success rate: 22.4%)
Latest Publications
Showing up to 6 latest publications from the past 5 years.
- Marine living resources [2025]N LiuElgar Concise Encyclopedia of Polar Law, 304-306, 2025
- SV Scott, N LiuInternational & Comparative Law Quarterly 74 (S1), 255-266, 2025
- N Liu, SV ScottLeiden Journal of International Law 38 (2), 168-187, 2025
- N Liu, SV ScottTaylor & Francis, 2025
- M Haward, J McGee, A Press, S Scott, T Stephens, N LiuUniversity of Tasmania, 2025
- E Beringen, N LiuThe Law of the Sea and the Planetary Crisis, 171-196, 2025
This highlights are AI-generated content using the faculty's CV.
- Doctor of Law, Ghent University, Belgium, 2012
- LLM, Wuhan University, China, 2007
- LLB, Wuhan University, China, 2004
Academic Positions Held
Current Appointment:
- Associate Professor of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2022-Present
- Director, Doctor of Law and Commercial Governance (DLCG) Programme, Jan 2025-Present
- Urban Fellow, SMU Urban Institute, 2025-Present
Past Appointments:
- Associate Professor & Director, Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2020 - 2022
- Senior Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, Australia, 2017 - 2020
- Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of New England, Armidale, Australia, 2015 - 2016
Other Positions
- Founding Director, CCLA Singapore Sustainable Futures Initiative, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law, 2025 - present
- Co-Chair, Law of the Sea Interest Group, American Society of International Law, 2025 - present
- Founding Chair of Steering Committee, Asia Pacific Research Alliance on Law and Sustainability, 2024 – present
- Member, International Law Association Committee Urbanisation and International Law – Potentials and Pitfalls, 2024 – present
- Member of Editorial Board, Polar Record (Cambridge University Press, IF=0.8), 2023 - present
- Member of Editorial Board, Marine Policy (Elsevier, IF=4.315), 2021- present
- Member of Editorial Board, Ocean Development and International Law (Taylor & Francis, IF=1.2), 2021 - present
- Co-Chair, International Environmental Law Interest Group, American Society of International Law, 2021 - 2024
- Member of Governing Board, IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, 2021 - 2024
- Marie Curie Research Fellow, Dundee Law School, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, 2013 - 2015
- “Future Ocean” Postdoctoral Fellow, Walther-Schücking-Institute for International Law, University of Kiel, Germany, 2012 – 2013
Course Taught in SMU
- Introduction to Sustainability Law
- Ethics and Social Responsibility
- Sustainable Ocean Law and Governance
Research Areas / Areas of Specialisation
- Ocean Law and Policy
- International Environmental Law
- Chinese Environmental Law
- International Polar Law
Selected Publications
- Google Scholar author page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sm1425MAAAAJ&hl=en
- Scopus author page: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55075616100
- Shirley V. Scott & Nengye Liu, The Prospects for the High Seas Treaty Decisively Reducing the Negative Biodiversity Impacts of Distant Water Fishing Operations, International and Comparative Law Quarterly (2025) 74 (S1), 255-266
- Nengye Liu & Shirley V. Scott, China in the UNCLOS and BBNJ Negotiations, Yesterday once more? Leiden Journal of International Law (2025) 38 (2), 168-187
- Nengye Liu, Shirley V. Scott (eds), The Law of the Sea and the Planetary Crisis (Routledge, 2025, London)
- Nengye Liu, Cassandra Brooks, Tianbao Qin (eds), Governing Marine Living Resources in the Polar Regions (Edward Elgar, 2019, Cheltenham)
- Nengye Liu, Elizabeth Kirk, Tore Henriksen (eds), The European Union and the Arctic (Brill Nijhoff, 2017, Leiden/Boston)
- Nengye Liu, Establishing Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean, Lessons for the BBNJ Agreement, Marine Policy (2024) 165, 106216
- Nengye Liu, Jan Jakub Solski, “The Polar Silk Road and the Future Governance of Northern Sea Route”, Leiden Journal of International Law (2022) 35 (4) 853-866
- Nengye Liu, Alexander Proelss and Valentin Schatz, “Regulating Exceptions for Research and Exploratory Fishing in Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas: A Comparative Analysis on Balancing Conservation and Commercial Use”, Ocean Development and International Law (2022) 53 (1) 60-83
- Nengye Liu, “China and One Hundred Years of the Svalbard Treaty, Past, Present and Future”, Marine Policy (2021) 124, 104354
- Nengye Liu, “The Rise of China and Conservation of Marine Living Resources in the Polar Regions”, Marine Policy (2020) 121, 104181
- Nengye Liu, “The Rise of China and the Antarctic Treaty System?”, Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs (2019) 11 (2) 120-131
- Nengye Liu, “The European Union and the Establishment of Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica”, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (2018) 18 (6) 861-874
- Nengye Liu, Cassandra Brooks, “China’s Changing Position towards Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean: Implications for Future Antarctic Governance”, Marine Policy (2018) 94 189-195
- Nengye Liu, “Will China Build a Green Belt and Road in the Arctic?” Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law (2018) 27 (1) 55-62