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Talks on new Syrian Constitution restart in Geneva on Monday, as a “door opener for a broader political process” – says UN Special Envoy for Syria
As another round of talks on Syria’s future constitution begins at United Nations premises in Switzerland on Monday, Geir Pedersen, the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, expressed his hope that the co-chairs of the 45-member committee, known in diplomatic parlance as the Small Body, will agree on “work plans with clear agendas and topics and with an urgency in delivering progress in this process”.
The so-called Small Body refers to the 45 people (15 representatives from each of three groups: the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society) who undertake the talks in Geneva on Behalf of the larger Constitutional Committee (also known as the “Large Body”, comprising the same three group with 50 representatives each), who are charged with drafting a new constitution ahead of UN-supervised elections.
“My hope has been that the Constitutional Committee, you know, if it’s handled in the correct manner, that it could start to build trust and it could be a door opener for a broader political process,” Pedersen said. “But the Constitutional Committee cannot work in isolation from other factors. We need a political will from the different parties to be able to move forward, ” he added.
In his briefing last Wednesday to the UN Security Council, the Special Envoy described next week’s meeting as “very important”. Many topics on the agenda have been under discussion discussed for more than a year in the Constitutional Committee.
“The time has come for the co-chairs to establish what I call more effective and operational working methods, so that the meetings can be better organized and more focused. We need to ensure that the Committee begins to move from preparing a constitutional reform into actually drafting one“,Pedersen said.
Although the last 10 months have been the calmest in almost a decade of conflict in Syria, and frontlines have barely shifted, the situation could break down at any moment, Pedersen warned.
“This is a fragile calm”, he said. “All of these issues cannot be sorted out by the Syrians alone. It needs an international cooperation, and what I have said we need real negotiations, and for the different parties to sit down and have a real exchange of views on how to move this process forward. And if that political will is lacking it will be very very difficult to move this process forward”.
After nearly a decade of conflict, death, displacement, destructions, detention, millions of Syrians in the country and millions of refugees abroad are having to deal with deep trauma and a lack of hope for the future.
The UN’s Syria Envoy admitted that “the political process so far is not yet delivering real changes in Syrian’s lives nor a real vision for the future.” He said that a willingness to collaborate is essential to moving the peace process forward. “As I emphasized many times, it is now clear that no one actor or group of actors can impose their will on Syria or settle the conflict alone. They must work together,” he stated.
Pedersen said the Committee can start considering specific constitutional issues and draft provisions and agree on future meetings on specific topics. He appealed for “a more serious and cooperative international diplomacy,” saying that despite their differences key countries remain committed to the UN Security Council resolution that guides his work.
“I have called for a more serious and a cooperative international diplomacy and indeed that is needed,” Pedersen said. “It is not only needed. I strongly believe that it should be also possible. After all, despite the differences, key states are continuing to reaffirm their commitment to resolution 2254”.
Resolution 2254 was adopted by the UN Security Council in December 2015, and unanimously endorsed a road map to peace in Syria. Through this resolution, the Security Council endorsed the 30 June 2012 agreement known as the Geneva Communiqué, as the basis for a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned political transition to end the conflict.
Continuity: Audio CH1 (L) English / CH2 (R) Arabic
Edited story shotlist:
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations, Flag alley, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria: “This is a fragile calm. All of these issues cannot be sorted out by the Syrians alone. It needs an international cooperation, and what I have said we need real negotiations, and for the different parties to sit down and have a real exchange of views on how to move this process forward. And if that political will is lacking it will be very very difficult to move this process forward”.
- Medium shot, staff of the Office of the UN Envoy
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria: “The time has come for the co-chairs to establish what I call more effective and operational working methods, so that the meetings can be better organized and more focused. We need to ensure that the Committee begins to move from preparing a constitutional reform into actually drafting one. “
- Medium shot, Geir Pedersen and spokesperson
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria: “The political process so far is not yet delivering real changes in Syrian’s lives nor a real vision for the future. As I emphasized many times, it is now clear that no one actor or group of actors can impose their will on Syria or settle the conflict alone. They must work together”.
- Close up, journalist in press briefing room at the UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria: “I have called for a more serious and a cooperative international diplomacy and indeed that is needed. It is not only needed. I strongly believe that it should be also possible. After all, despite the differences, key states are continuing to reaffirm their commitment to resolution 2254”.
- Medium shot, camera with view finder and Geir Pedersen on the podium in background
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria: “My hope has been that the Constitutional Committee, you know if it’s handled in the correct manner, that it could start to build trust and it could be a door opener for a broader political process. But the Constitutional Committee cannot work in isolation from other factors. We need a political will from the different parties to be able to move forward”.
- Medium shot, journalist with cell phone in press briefing room
- Wide shot, Geir Pedersen at podium
- Close up, Geir Pedersen at podium
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New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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