TORY ministers must ensure that all new housing estates are built with their own renewable energy supplies as standard because the “clock is ticking” on climate change, food workers said today.

Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) members gathered in Staffordshire for their annual conference overwhelmingly endorsed calls for all new builds to be powered by local wind, solar, hydroelectric or geothermal energy sources.

Universal batteries should also be installed to “store power for the dark and cold evenings, thus keeping carbon frontprints to a minimum,” the motion added.

According to social housing website Inside Housing, new carbon reduction rules introduced by SNP ministers across Scotland in 2016 have been a “game-changer” for solar panel use, with seven in 10 new builds now using them — a sevenfold increase.

Similar rules stipulating the use of “energy-saving technologies” were not introduced in England until last year.

Union member John Fox said: “We’ve got to get our carbon footprint down by 2030. I don’t think we’re going to it, but this is one way we can.

“Having your own power on your doorstep would also save money on bills.”

Speaking on a hot day at Yarnfield Park conference centre in Stone, he stressed that rising temperatures globally are only going to get worse without action.

Fellow member Doughie Johnston backed the warning, saying: “Every year the clock is ticking — we have to do something radical or the human race is done.”

He referred to the “doomsday clock,” which is used by scientists to symbolise the likelihood of a human-made global catastrophe.

“It’s being pulled closer [to midnight]. We’re 90 seconds away. At 12 o’clock, it’s game over.”

In response to concerns from members that higher construction costs would mean even higher house prices, Mr Johnson said: “The price of housing is not being forced up by the actual cost of building materials.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, when the government gave away billions of pounds, it went to the richest.

“And what did they do? They bought property to force up prices because it’s better than having money in the bank.”

And member Joanne Henderson said: “Thirty years ago, how many cars had central locking as standard?

“If we get the builders to put these in now, in years to come all houses will be built with solar panels or wind power. We have to start somewhere.”