The transformative capacity of public sector organisations in sustainability transitions

•Green sustainability transitions require path-break transformations.•We review the literature for clues about the concept transformative capacity of public sector organisations (PSOs).•We identify strengths and weaknesses in the literature, extracting key insights.•We develop a higher-order conceptual framework about the transformative capacity of PSOs.•Our framework highlights the interaction between PSOs’ roles, resources, and abilities when enacting path-breaking change agency.•We argue that understanding those interactions is crucial for building capacity in PSOs and accelerating transformative change. Public sector organisations (PSOs) such as municipalities, regulatory bodies, and public utilities are key actors in sustainability transitions. However, the conceptualisation of their transformative capacity is underdeveloped, as several strands of literature pay attention to the topic but remain disjointed. The article takes stock of the literature, reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the main approaches. Building from there, the article proposes a higher-order holistic conceptual framework based on three constitutive elements: roles, resources, and abilities. We conceptualise the transformative capacity of a public sector organisation as the interaction between its roles, resources, and abilities in the enactment of its transformative agency. This framework offers a granular analytical approach for future empirical studies, acknowledging the diversity of PSOs and sustainability transitions pathways. It also offers practical clues for more targeted efforts to build transformative capacity in PSOs, which is crucial for accelerating transitions.