Story highlights Trudeau argued that the challenges posed by climate change also present an economic opportunity

He also focused heavily on the situation of Canada's native peoples

New York (CNN) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a rallying cry Thursday for the fight against climate change and an implicit rebuke to President Donald Trump, who has announced his intention to pull the US from the Paris agreement to slow global warming.

"There is no country on the planet that can walk away from the challenge and reality of climate change," Trudeau told the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "And for our part, Canada will continue to fight for the global plan that has a realistic chance of countering it. We have a responsibility to future generations and we will uphold it."

Trudeau, who focused heavily on the situation of Canada's native peoples, wove themes of sustainability and people-centered policies through remarks that touched on trade, economic development, the success of women and girls, and the environment.

Maintaining momentum on climate

Trudeau argued that the challenges posed by climate change also present an economic opportunity. "We have a chance to build in Canada and around the world economies that are clean, that are growing, that are forward-looking," the 45-year-old Trudeau said. "We will not let that opportunity pass us by."

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