GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.

Climate action

1. In our lead story this morning, Lauren Boland reports how the pressure is on the coalition government to deliver on climate pledges in the new year, after a mixed bag of successes in 2022.

At the final Cabinet meeting of the year, ministers signed off on the publication of the Climate Action Plan 2023, the first of the annual plans to be released since the introduction of legally-binding carbon budgets and sectoral limits during the summer.

However, experts say the progress made is not yet at a pace that is sufficient to match the level of change that must happen to reduce emissions and help to prevent the climate crisis from worsening.

Covid surge

2. The World Health Organisation has held a “high-level meeting” with Chinese officials on the current surge in Covid cases in the country, stressing the importance of sharing real-time data on the rising cases.

The WHO also invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on the evolution of the virus on 3 January.

Penalty points

3. New figures reveal a slight rise in the number of people with penalty points on their license in Ireland.

Data released by the Road Safety Authority shows that a total of 543,089 people had points on their licences on 30 September 2022, up from 540,174 people the year previous.

The highest numbers were seen in some of the most highly populated areas of the country – Dublin (115,960 people) , followed by Cork (59,452) and Galway (28,874).

Ireland in the EU

4. Tánaiste Michéal Martin has penned a piece for The Journal to mark 50 years since Ireland joined the European Communities, the body that would later become the European Union.

“This event was the catalyst for a remarkable transformation of our nation,” he writes.

“Progress has been neither linear nor constant, but it has been profound and indisputable: We are living more than a decade longer than we did in 1973, we are far better educated at all levels and we have access to vast opportunities to get jobs across many sectors. There is, however, no room for complacency.”

Brazil

5. Brazil’s outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has not acknowledged his electoral defeat, has left the country two days before his successor’s inauguration and shortly after bidding his followers a tearful farewell.

This means he will miss Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony and will not transfer the presidential sash to leftist president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as is the tradition.

Winter viruses

6. The HSE remains ‘significantly concerned’ over the continued rise in flu cases in Ireland, The Irish Times reports.

Chief clinical officer Colm Henry told the paper that there is no indication of when cases of the virus will peak, describing it as an ‘exceptional year’.

It comes after a warning yesterday that urgent care services in Ireland are facing never-seen-before demand.

ABC host

7. Pioneering television journalist Barbara Walters has died at the age of 93, her long-time employer ABC has said.

Walters upended a male-dominated industry as the first woman to anchor an evening news show in the United States.

Gambling laws

8. The Irish Examiner reports on what experts are calling “a big miss” in Ireland’s overhaul of its gambling laws.

A slew of changes have been proposed, such as a ban on advertising between 5.30m and 9pm, but will not introduce ‘affordability checks’ to discern when someone is making losses beyond their means.

New Year weather

9. 2022 is set to close with some unpleasant weather, and 2023 beginning with a chill.

Met Éireann forecasts a mostly cloudy day with patchy rain, drizzle and mist, before further outbreaks of rain develop in southern countries and move northwards. Heavy falls as well as thunder and lightning are possible.

Tomorrow will be “rather chilly”, with heavy rain, hail, and thunder all possibilities – and you might even see a wintry shower overnight.