Bump version to v2.40.0 for next release cycle (#21679)

* Bump version and update CHANGELOG for v2.40.0

(cherry picked from commit cceb6c3)

* Add minor changeset for next release cycle

---------

Co-authored-by: github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: chainlink-release-pusher[bot]

.changeset/bright-pens-glow.md

@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 # Changelog Chainlink Core
 
+## 2.40.0
+
+### Minor Changes
+
+- [#21566](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/pull/21566) [`540693c`](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/commit/540693cc71f44ccfcb89f36c959890fd5cf324fa) - Minor bump to start next version
+
+### Patch Changes
+
+- [#21643](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/pull/21643) [`e034db3`](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/commit/e034db36cc3a02a79aec1a3b44ccc71ddc2f21ed) - #added Add ListPendingJobProposals and ApproveJobProposalByID to the GQL SDK Client
+
+- [#21550](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/pull/21550) [`6ed0e26`](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/commit/6ed0e268f955a20b38a0c052efd2acac07c798c2) - #changed Bumps the chainlink-ccip reference and replaces all references to `latest` with version-locked imports
+
+- [#21604](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/pull/21604) [`4561cb7`](https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/commit/4561cb741754d00b2910599952ef5e1a5abde45c) - #added Emit gas-related metrics through Beholder
+
 ## 2.39.0
 
 ### Minor Changes

.changeset/fresh-cakes-hit.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "chainlink",
-  "version": "2.39.0",
+  "version": "2.40.0",
   "description": "node of the decentralized oracle network, bridging on and off-chain computation",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {