A two-day meeting will be held in Mexico as the main event to celebrate World Environment Day on Friday, Mexico's Environment Ministry said Tuesday.

The event will begin Thursday in the Caribbean coastal resorts of Cozumel and Xcaret. Speakers in the meeting include President Felipe Calderon, Finance Minister Agustin Carstens, Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada and UN environment officials.

The ministry said the meeting will focus on the Green Economy Initiative, a UN project to help turn environmental action into jobs and businesses.

Besides, Mexico will award prizes to scientists, societies and institutions that have made contributions to environmental protection. Each prize winner will receive 75,000 pesos (US$5,693), which should be used to develop an environmental project.

Mexico hosts this year's World Environment Day celebrations thanks to the country's growing role in the fight against climate change, its massive tree planting campaign and natural resources management, the United Nations Environment Program said on its website.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)