On the transmission channels driving climate change-income inequality nexus in sub-Saharan African countries

Climate change stands at the forefront of the worldwide agenda. Although its consequences are harmful to all humanity, some regions across the world remain more vulnerable than others. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most suffering regions. In this paper, we investigate the climate change-income inequality nexus in a panel of sub-Saharan countries over the period 1990-2019. A greater emphasis is put on the potential transmission channels that drive this relationship. By using the recently developed method of moments quantile regression, we find that income inequality is exacerbated by the vulnerability to climate change. This relationship is still robust across all the quantiles with a greater effect at the highest quantile. The empirical findings reveal also the moderating role of agriculture, education, and gender through which the effect of climate change on income inequality is channeled. In light of the outcomes, the sub-Saharan African region still needs appropriate combined mitigation and adaptation measures to efficiently combat the adverse effects of climate change.