Over 95% of UK local authorities have declared climate emergencies and many have adopted local climate plans to establish targets and actions for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. However, these plans typically lack the legal powers and accountability mechanisms of national policy frameworks, such as climate change acts, to force and incentivise actions by local actors. This research critically interrogates how local climate plans achieve impact in these circumstances by investigating the mechanisms and processes through which they seek to build stakeholder support and influence the behaviour of local actors in pursuit of net zero.