Do European Regions Converge in Carbon Intensity? The Role of Climate-Driven Energy Demand

European regions aim to achieve climate neutrality. This requires the improvement of the carbon efficiency of their energy systems despite the substantial differences in climate conditions and economic structure. This study investigates whether carbon intensity converges across European NUTS-2 regions and examines the role of climate-driven energy demand and spatial interactions in the regional energy transition. Specifically, we use panel data from the period 2000–2024 and investigate the conditional β-convergence based on two-way fixed effects and spatial panel models. The results reveal significant convergence, persistent spatial dependence and slower adjustment in regions with initially high carbon intensity. Climate-driven energy demand, labor market conditions and industrial structure significantly affect the convergence process. These findings highlight the importance of place-based energy transition policies that account for regional heterogeneity and spatial spillovers to accelerate decarbonization.