diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index a81b785705..744b54cc20 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -225,11 +225,11 @@ authors:
     orcid: "https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2333-3358"
 
 cff-version: 1.2.0
-date-released: 2025-02-21
+date-released: 2025-02-27
 doi: "10.5281/zenodo.3387139"
 license: "Apache-2.0"
 message: "If you use this software, please cite it using these metadata."
 repository-code: "https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/"
 title: ESMValCore
-version: "v2.12.0rc2"
+version: "v2.12.0"
 ...
diff --git a/doc/changelog.rst b/doc/changelog.rst
index f83bead538..3731d9d1a7 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.rst
+++ b/doc/changelog.rst
@@ -10,10 +10,24 @@ v2.12.0
 -------
 
 Highlights
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+-  Preprocessor :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.extract_time` now allows to
+   extract time blocks in each year by making parameters ``start_year`` and
+   ``end_year`` optional.
+-  A new way of :ref:`configuring the tool <config>` has been developed.
+-  Performance improvements:
+
+    -  An iris-esmf-regrid scheme has been added to
+       preprocessor :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.regrid`, which improves
+       the regridding of 2D grids and adds the capability to regrid UGRID meshes
+       out of the box.
+    -  Data is now saved from one preprocessing task at the time when using the
+       distributed scheduler, in order to avoid running out of memory.
+    -  A better default ``num_workers`` has been set when using more than one
+       ``max_parallel_tasks`` with an unconfigured threaded scheduler.
 
-Preprocessor :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.extract_time` now allows to
-extract time blocks in each year by making parameters ``start_year`` and
-``end_year`` optional.
+-  An on-the-fly cmorizer for ACCESS native data is now available.
 
 This release includes
 
@@ -21,16 +35,53 @@ Backwards incompatible changes
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 -  Make derivation of total column ozone (`toz`) more flexible and add derivation of stratospheric and tropospheric column ozone (:pull:`2509`) by :user:`schlunma`
--  Merge configuration object from multiple files (instead of one single file) (:pull:`2448`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+   - The units of `toz` have been changed from ``DU`` to ``m`` to be consistent with the CMIP6 CMOR table.
+     To restore the old behaviour, preprocessor :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.convert_units` can be used
+     to set the units back to ``DU``.
+
 -  Remove deprecated CMOR fix/check code (:pull:`2552`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+   - CMOR fixes and checks have been clearly separated in v2.10.0, and the old code has now been removed.
+     Use functions :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessors.fix_metadata`, :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessors.fix_data`,
+     or :func:`esmvalcore.dataset.Dataset.load` to fix data.
+     Use functions :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.cmor_check_metadata`, :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.cmor_check_data`,
+     or :func:`esmvalcore.preprocessor.cmor_check` to check data.
+
 -  Remove deprecated statistical operators (:pull:`2553`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+   - Old statistical operators that have been deprecated in v2.10.0 have now been removed.
+     Please refer to :ref:`stat_preprocs` for a detailed description on how to use the operators.
+
 -  Save all files in a task at the same time to avoid recomputing intermediate results (:pull:`2522`) by :user:`bouweandela`
 
+   - The signature of the preprocessor function :func:`~esmvalcore.preprocessor.save`
+     has changed. The function now accepts a ``compute`` argument that can be :obj:`True`,
+     in which case the return value will be :obj:`None` or :obj:`False`, in which case
+     the return value will be a :class:`~dask.delayed.Delayed` object that can be used
+     to compute and save the data of the cube.
+
 Deprecations
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+-  Merge configuration object from multiple files (instead of one single file) (:pull:`2448`) by :user:`schlunma`
+
+   - The single configuration file ``config-user.yml`` has been deprecated in favour of configuration directories.
+     By default, the directory ``~/.config/esmvaltool`` will be considered.
+     To switch to the new format run:
+
+       .. code-block:: bash
+
+          mkdir -p ~/.config/esmvaltool && mv ~/.esmvaltool/config-user.yml ~/.config/esmvaltool
+
+     You can also specify the location of the configuration directory with the ``--config_dir`` flag.
+     Please refer to :ref:`config` for a detailed description on how to configure the tool.
+
 -  Make Dask configurable in our configuration (:pull:`2616`) by :user:`schlunma`
 
+   - The old Dask configuration file that needed to be located at ``~/.esmvaltool/dask.yml`` is now deprecated.
+     Please refer to :ref:`config-dask` for a detailed description on how to configure Dask.
+
 Bug fixes
 ~~~~~~~~~