Amidst rising recognition of the contributions of agro-commodity production to accelerating climate crises, interest has exploded in ‘scaled-up’ approaches to sustainable commodity sourcing. Such approaches promise to transcend the boundaries of traditional supply chain sustainability programs, instead promoting sustainability transformations within entire sectors, landscapes and jurisdictions. Yet, despite rising enthusiasm for such approaches, the advance of jurisdictional approaches (JAs) has so far remained tightly delimited within a small number of locations. Drawing on in-depth analysis of two jurisdictional initiatives in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Central Kalimantan, this paper illustrates the local political economy dynamics through which ambitions for upscaling instead transform into stasis or shrinkage, as efforts to leverage market transformation suffer from excessive reliance on external resources and incentives and support from a narrow set of ‘progressive’ leaders. This renders such efforts highly vulnerable to resistance from competing interests and agendas, with implications for larger-scale sustainability transitions.