BRUSSELS, September 11, 2008 (AFP) - Most Europeans are very concerned about climate change, but a sizeable minority feel they don't know enough to help counter it, a major EU opinion poll released Thursday suggested.

A majority of the 30,000-plus interviewed throughout the European Union and candidate countries thought that neither industry nor national governments nor the EU itself was doing enough to tackle the problem.

Global warming and climate change were deemed to be one of the most serious world problems by 62 percent of those who took part in the Eurobarometer survey on behalf of the European Commission.

As an issue, it ranked second to poverty and the lack of food and water (68 percent) -- but ahead of international terrorism, armed conflicts and the global economic slowdown.

The figures were different when analysed by age, with younger and better-educated respondents more concerned.

The responses also differed from one member state to the other.

In Cyprus, for example, a 96 percent of those questioned described global warming as 'a very serious problem' while that figure dropped to 59 percent in Britain.

European Commission officials, in announcing the report, stressed the need for the EU executive's overall target of 20 percent reductions in greenhouse gases by 2020.

What's good for the environment is also good for the economy, they argued.

That message appeared to be getting through.

According to the survey, three quarters of respondents regarded climate change as a very or fairly serious issue, while 56 percent thought that tackling it will have a positive impact on the economy.

A clear majority, 61 percent, said they had taken some kind of action towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

However, 30 percent of Europeans think carbon dioxide emissions have only a marginal effect on climate change, while 15 percent of those interviewed said they did not know whether it had an impact.

On top of that, 'lacking information' was cited as an important reason for not taking action against climate change.

It is important to understand citizens' wishes for 'for better and more detailed information on the causes and risks of climate change,' said European Commission Vice President Margot Wallstroem.

'An important minority of European citizens, more than 40 percent, believe that they are not well informed on these issues,' she said.